Forest Park station (CTA Lake Street branch)

Last updated
FOREST PARK
 
7300W
100S
Former Chicago 'L' rapid transit station
Forest Park Lake 1910s.jpg
Station platform, c. 1910s
General information
LocationMarengo Avenue and Circle Avenue
Forest Park, Illinois
Coordinates 41°53′13″N87°48′27″W / 41.88693°N 87.80758°W / 41.88693; -87.80758
Owned by Chicago Transit Authority
Line(s) Lake Street Elevated
Platforms1 island platform
Construction
Structure typeAt-grade
History
OpenedMay 20, 1910
ClosedOctober 28, 1962
Services
Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station
Terminus Lake Street Elevated Marion
Location
Forest Park station (CTA Lake Street branch)

Forest Park was an at-grade station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, serving as the former western terminus of the Lake Street Elevated. [1]

Contents

History

The station was opened in 1910 as part of an extension of the Lake Street "L" into the Chicago & North Western Railroad's Forest Park yard. The adjacent Marion station had served as the terminal of the line since 1901. [2] Passenger service was initially operated with a single track, but was expanded to two tracks by 1946. In 1962, the at-grade stations of the Lake Street "L" were moved onto the abandoned C&NW embankment, as the local stations had been abandoned since 1958. The elevation prompted the merger of the Forest Park station and the adjacent Marion station into the current Harlem/Lake station.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marion County, Florida</span> County in Florida, United States

Marion County is located in the northern portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 375,908. Its county seat is Ocala.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oak Park, Illinois</span> Village in Illinois, United States

Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 26th-most populous municipality in Illinois with a population of 54,583 as of the 2020 U.S. Census estimate. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporated in 1902, when it separated from Cicero. It is closely tied to the smaller town of River Forest, Illinois sharing Oak Park and River Forest High School. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright and his wife settled in Oak Park in 1889, and his work heavily influenced local architecture and design, including the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio. Over the years, rapid development was spurred by railroads and street cars connecting the village to jobs in nearby Chicago. In 1968, Oak Park passed the Open Housing Ordinance, which helped devise strategies to integrate the village rather than resegregate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Forest, Illinois</span> Village in Illinois, United States

River Forest is a suburban village adjacent to Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 11,717. Two universities make their home in River Forest, Dominican University and Concordia University Chicago. The village is closely tied to the larger neighboring community of Oak Park. There are significant architectural designs located in River Forest such as the Winslow House by Frank Lloyd Wright. River Forest has a railroad station with service to Chicago on Metra's Union Pacific/West Line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Bluff, Illinois</span> Village in Illinois, United States

Lake Bluff is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 5,616.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicago "L"</span> Rapid transit system in Chicago, Illinois, US

The Chicago "L" is the rapid transit system serving the city of Chicago and some of its surrounding suburbs in the U.S. state of Illinois. Operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), it is the fourth-largest rapid transit system in the United States in terms of total route length, at 102.8 miles (165.4 km) long as of 2014, and the second busiest rapid transit system in the United States, after the New York City Subway. In 2016, the "L" had 1,492 rail cars, eight different routes, and 145 train stations. In 2022, the system had 103,524,900 rides, or about 334,200 per weekday in the fourth quarter of 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Line (CTA)</span> West-Northwest section of Chicago Rail System (L)

The Blue Line is a 26.93-mile-long (43.34 km) Chicago "L" line which extends through The Loop from O'Hare International Airport at the far northwest end of the city, through downtown via the Milwaukee–Dearborn subway and across the West Side to its southwest end at Forest Park, with a total of 33 stations. At about 27 miles, it is the longest line on the Chicago "L" system and second busiest, and one of the longest local subway/elevated lines in the world. It has an average of 47,120 passengers boarding each weekday in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brown Line (CTA)</span> Rapid transit line in Chicago, Illinois

The Brown Line of the Chicago "L" system, is an 11.4-mile (18.3 km) route with 27 stations between Chicago's Albany Park neighborhood and downtown Chicago. It runs completely above ground and is almost entirely grade-separated. It is the third-busiest 'L' route, with an average of 19,255 passengers boarding each weekday in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green Line (CTA)</span> Rapid transit line, part of the Chicago L system

The Green Line is a rapid transit line on the Chicago Transit Authority's "L" system. It is the only completely elevated route in the "L" system. All other routes may have various combinations of elevated, subway, street level, or freeway median sections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Main Line (NJ Transit)</span> Commuter rail line in New Jersey

The Main Line is a commuter rail line owned and operated by New Jersey Transit running from Suffern, New York to Hoboken, New Jersey, in the United States. It runs daily commuter service and was once the north–south main line of the Erie Railroad. It is colored yellow on NJ Transit system maps, and its symbol is a water wheel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad</span> Former interurban railroad line between the Chicago Loop and downtown Milwaukee

The Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad, also known as the North Shore Line, was an interurban railroad that operated passenger and freight service over an 88.9-mile (143.1 km) route between the Chicago Loop and downtown Milwaukee, as well as an 8.6-mile (13.8 km) branch line between the villages of Lake Bluff and Mundelein, Illinois. The North Shore Line also provided streetcar, city bus and motor coach services along its interurban route.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pink Line (CTA)</span> Rapid transit line in Chicago, Illinois

The Pink Line is an 11.2 mi (18.0 km) rapid transit line in Chicago, run by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) as part of the Chicago "L" system. It is the CTA's newest rail line and began operation for a 180-day trial period on June 25, 2006, running between 54th/Cermak station in Cicero, Illinois and the Loop in downtown Chicago. The route, as the line is about to enter downtown Chicago, shares tracks with Green Line trains on Lake Street. This connection is handled by the previously non-revenue Paulina Connector set of tracks. In 2021, an average of 7,779 passengers boarded Pink Line trains on weekdays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austin station (CTA Green Line)</span> Chicago "L" station

Austin is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system. It is located between the Ridgeland and Central stations on the Green Line, which runs from Harlem/Lake and to Ashland/63rd and Cottage Grove. The station is located at the intersection of Austin Boulevard and Corcoran Place in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago's West Side and borders the village of Oak Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harlem/Lake station</span> Chicago "L" station

Harlem/Lake, announced as Harlem, is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, serving the Green Line. It is the northwestern terminus of the Green Line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paterson station</span> NJ Transit rail station

Paterson is a New Jersey Transit commuter railway station located on an elevated viaduct above Market Street in downtown Paterson, New Jersey. The railway through the station is double tracked, for north and south traffic on the NJT Main Line.

The Lake–Dan Ryan Line was a rail rapid transit route formerly operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). The Lake–Dan Ryan Line existed from the opening of the Dan Ryan branch on September 28, 1969, until February 21, 1993. When created, the route united two transit corridors that until 1969 never had through rail service. This routing, which became known as the West-South route, operated from the Harlem terminal in Forest Park on the Lake Street "L" through downtown Chicago along the Union Loop "L", and then via the old South Side "L" and the new Dan Ryan Line to the 95th Street Terminal. The Lake–Dan Ryan service was planned in conjunction with the former Franklin Street Connector and Chicago Central Area Transit Project, both of which were never constructed. The section of the route between the junction with the South Side "L" at 17th and State Streets and the Cermak–Chinatown Station was originally an "interim", or temporary facility. It was planned to be torn down when the Loop Subway system was completed, but survived after the project was cancelled in 1979. That section was improved in the 1980s and early 1990s and is currently being used by the Orange Line. Train transfers are possible by using the two unused tracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Street Elevated</span> Rapid transit line in Chicago

The Lake Street Elevated, also known as the Lake branch, is a 8.75 mi (14.08 km) long branch of the Chicago "L" which is located west of the Chicago Loop and serves the Green Line for its entire length, as well as the Pink Line east of Ashland Avenue. As of February 2013, the branch serves an average of 27,217 passengers each weekday. It serves the Near West Side, East Garfield Park, West Garfield Park, and Austin neighborhoods of Chicago, as well as the suburbs Oak Park and Forest Park. It owes its name to Lake Street, the street that the branch overlooks for 6.25 mi (10.06 km) before continuing its route straight west, adjacent to South Boulevard, towards the terminus at Harlem/Lake.

The Garfield Park Branch was a rapid transit line which was part of the Chicago "L" system from 1895 to 1958. The branch served Chicago's Near West Side, East Garfield Park, West Garfield Park, and Austin neighborhoods, and the suburbs of Oak Park, and Forest Park, and consisted of twenty-two stations. It opened on June 19, 1895 and closed on June 22, 1958, when it was replaced by the Congress branch of the Blue Line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Street Transfer station</span> Rapid transit station in Chicago (1913–1951)

The Lake Street Transfer station was a rapid transit station on the Chicago "L", serving as a transfer station between its Lake Street Elevated Railroad and the Logan Square branch of its Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad. Located where the Logan Square branch crossed over the Lake Street Elevated, it was in service from 1913 to 1951, when it was rendered obsolete by the opening of the Dearborn Street subway.

The Randolph Street Branch and Cuyler Avenue Shuttle were two different incarnations of a rapid transit line operated in and around Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, by the Lake Street Elevated intermittently between 1899 and 1912. The Randolph Street Branch served as the line's westward extension to Wisconsin Avenue from Lombard Avenue, whereas the Cuyler Avenue Shuttle was intended to serve the Harlem Race Track. Local opposition resulted in the lines being discontinued.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marshfield station</span> Rapid transit station in Chicago, 1895–1954

Marshfield was a rapid transit station on the Chicago "L". Constructed by the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad, it was the westernmost station of the Metropolitan's main line, which then diverged into three branches: the northwestern Logan Square branch, the western Garfield Park branch, and the southwestern Douglas Park branch. The station was in service from 1895 to 1954, when it, alongside the main line and the Garfield Park branch, was demolished to make way for the Eisenhower Expressway and rapid-transit Congress Line in its median. In addition to its use on the "L", Marshfield was served by the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad (CA&E), an interurban that used the Garfield Park branch and main line's tracks, between 1905 and 1953.

References

  1. "Forest Park". chicago-l.org. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  2. "Marion". chicago-l.org. Retrieved 2 August 2020.