banned the sale of alcohol within town limits. An exception was made for guests of the Hotel Florence, however. A bar served whiskey and other beverages inside the hotel. A hotel restaurant specialized in pork chops, which entered the hotel menu in 1902. Today George Pullman's control over his company town began to come apart in 1889 when the city of Chicago annexed Pullman and its surroundings and began to extend its ordinances over the neighborhood. Another blow was the bitter strike in 1894 led by labor leader Eugene Debs. George Pullman died in 1897. Under Pullman's successor, Robert T. Lincoln, the sleeping-car business continued to expand into the twentieth century, and the Hotel Florence built a major addition, the Annex, in the 1910s. This was, however, the decade that marked a peak for the American passenger railroad industry. With the growth of the automobile industry, travelers and salesmen began to drive themselves around. Almost all of the American railroads still offering night train services relinquished them to Amtrak in 1971. The sleeping-car business died. The Historic Pullman Foundation purchased the hotel in 1975 to save it from demolition; the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency took title in 1991. The Hotel is currently closed for renovations and the State of Illinois hopes to have it open before 2025. Sources References External links website Illinois State Historic Sites Florence Hotel Florence Hotel Florence Hotel Tourist attractions in Chicago Illinois Central Railroad Historic district contributing properties in Illinois 1881 establishments in Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Chicago