Legislation pending in Congress would start the process of placing the Pullman District under National Park Service (NPS) control, ensuring that its historic structures and museums remain intact and attracting more visitors and economic development, advocates of the plan say. The Abraham Lincoln National Historic Site in Springfield is the state's only NPS destination.
"Pullman is historically and architecturally significant," says Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., sponsor of a bill that would authorize an NPS study. Making it part of the national park system "would go a long way toward putting us on the map … and create jobs" where they are badly needed, he says.
