Landmarks

George Pullman's legacy lies in the town that bears his name. As one of the first thoroughly planned model industrial communities, it was designed to give the comforts of a permanent home to the employees who built America's most elegant form of overnight railroad travel. But the town was more than just a residential wing of sleeper car manufacturing; its 1894 railroad strike led to the national Labor Day holiday. In the early twentieth century, the Pullman Company became the country's largest employer of African Americans, who then formed the nation's first successful Black labor union. Author Kenneth Schoon revisits Pullman's monumental history and the lessons it continues to provide.

In early twentieth-century New York, few could have imagined a train terminal as grandiose as Pennsylvania Station.

Sandhogs would battle the fiercest of nature to build tunnels linking Manhattan to New Jersey and Long Island. For decades, Penn Station was a center of elegance and pride. But the ensuing rise of the airplane and automobile began to diminish train travel. By the mid-1960s, the station was tragically destroyed. The loss inspired the birth of preservation laws in the city and the nation that would save other landmarks like Grand Central. Author Paul Kaplan recounts the trials and triumphs of New York's Penn Station.

On June 1, 1881, Denver's Union Station opened as the largest structure west of the Mississippi. The station welcomed people from all walks of life, from pioneers and miners to U.S. presidents and Buffalo Bill Cody--and even royalty from abroad. It served as the center point for transporting cargo to Denver before the rise in popularity of air travel. Due to revitalization efforts, Union Station is the centerpiece of the nation's largest transportation hub and the pride of the city. Author Rhonda Beck explores the history and stories behind one of the Mile High City's most iconic historic landmarks.

On the eve of the twentieth century, small-town Texas was still wild country lacking in the commodities and cultural centers of larger cities. This changed, however, with the arrival of the Santa Fe rail line, followed quickly by the Harvey House. Established in Kansas by English immigrant Fred Harvey, Harvey Houses could be found throughout the Southwest and adjoined local depots in sixteen Texas towns. Found in every corner of the state, Harvey Houses were not just restaurants and hotels for weary, hungry travelers but were also bustling social centers and often the only commercial outlet for the communities that developed around them. Author Rosa Walston Latimer tells the history of hospitality the "Fred Harvey way" in turn-of-the-century Texas, woven from personal stories of the famous "Harvey Girls" and other employees of Texas Harvey Houses.