The LaSalle Street Cable Car Powerhouse at 500 North LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois (northwest corner of LaSalle and Illinois Streets) is a rare surviving artifact of Chicago's cable car system, which at its peak in the 1890s was one of the largest in the country, in terms of riders and equipment. Three separate companies operated thousands of cable cars over 82 miles of track. [2] The three-story powerhouse was built by the North Chicago Street Railroad Company in 1886-1887 for $35,000. "It was a striking presence in the River North area, which was a jumble of low-scale factories, warehouses and shipyards," said a Commission on Chicago Landmarks Designation Report from 2000. The railroad company was organized by Charles Tyson Yerkes, the leading transit entrepreneur in Chicago during the late 19th century. At the height of his influence, Yerkes controlled eight separate street railway companies and 250 miles of track in the city.
Chicago historian Greg Borzo calls the LaSalle Street Cable Car Powerhouse, "the crown jewel of Chicago’s cable car remnants." He also notes, "This powerhouse drove two cables: one that pulled cable cars through a tunnel under the Chicago River along LaSalle Street and around the downtown and another shorter cable that pulled cars along Illinois Street between Clark Street and Wells Street." [3] Those cables, in turn, pulled the thousands of cable cars that, at the peak of their operation, brought approximately 100,000 workers into downtown Chicago each day.
The LaSalle Street Cable Car Powerhouse helped make possible the rapid development of the city's outlying North Side neighborhoods during one of the greatest boom periods in the history of Chicago.
Cable cars operated in Chicago until 1906.
The LaSalle Street Cable Car Powerhouse was designated a Chicago Landmark on June 27, 2001. [4] Today it is a restaurant. [5] It used to be Michael Jordan's Restaurant until 2000.
A cable car is a type of cable railway used for mass transit in which rail cars are hauled by a continuously moving cable running at a constant speed. Individual cars stop and start by releasing and gripping this cable as required. Cable cars are distinct from funiculars, where the cars are permanently attached to the cable.
LaSalle or La Salle is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States, located at the intersection of Interstates 39 and 80. It is part of the Ottawa, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area. Originally platted in 1837 over one square mile, the city's boundaries have grown to 12 sq mi (31 km2). City boundaries extend from the Illinois River and Illinois and Michigan Canal to a mile north of Interstate 80 and from the city of Peru on the west to the village of North Utica on the east. Starved Rock State Park is located approximately 5 mi (8 km) to the east. The population was 9,582 as of the 2020 census, down from 9,609 at the 2010 census. LaSalle and its twin city, Peru, make up the core of the Illinois Valley. Due to their combined dominance of the zinc processing industry in the early 1900s, they were collectively nicknamed "Zinc City."
The Chicago City Railway Company (CCRy) was an urban transit company that operated horse, cable, and electric streetcars on Chicago's South Side between 1859 and 1914, when it became merged into and part of the Chicago Surface Lines (CSL) metropolitan-wide system. After that time it owned electric streetcars, along with gasoline, diesel, and propane – fueled transit busses. Purchased by the government agency Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) in 1947, it was liquidated in 1950.
Wacker Drive is a major multilevel street in Chicago, Illinois, running along the south side of the main branch and the east side of the south branch of the Chicago River in the Loop. The vast majority of the street is double-decked; the upper level intended for local traffic, and the lower level for through-traffic and trucks serving buildings on the road. It is sometimes cited as a precursor to the freeway, though when it was built the idea was that pleasure vehicles would use the upper level. It is the only street in the city that is prefixed with all four cardinal directions, albeit on different parts of its route. The drive is named for early 20th century Chicago businessman and city planner Charles H. Wacker.
LaSalle Street is a major north-south street in Chicago named for René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, a 17th century French explorer of the Illinois Country. The portion that runs through the Chicago Loop is considered to be Chicago's financial district.
LaSalle Street Station is a commuter rail terminal at 414 South LaSalle Street in downtown Chicago. First used as a rail terminal in 1852, it was a major intercity rail terminal for the New York Central Railroad until 1968, and for the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad until 1978, but now serves only Metra's Rock Island District. The present structure became the fifth station on the site when its predecessor was demolished in 1981 and replaced by the new station and the One Financial Place tower for the Chicago Stock Exchange. The Chicago Board of Trade Building, Willis Tower, and Harold Washington Library are nearby.
The LaSalle Street Tunnel was Chicago's second traffic tunnel under the Chicago River. It was started November 3, 1869, and completed July 4, 1871. It was designed by William Bryson who was the resident engineer for the Washington Street Tunnel. It was 1,890 feet (576m) long, from Randolph Street north to Hubbard Street, and cost $566,000.
Between 1892 and 1906, Chicago had three cable car tunnels under the Chicago River. Two were built for pedestrian and horse traffic and later converted, the third was built specially for cable-cars. After cable service ended they would be used by electric streetcars.
The Chicago Surface Lines (CSL) was operator of the street railway system of Chicago, Illinois, from 1913 to 1947. The firm is a predecessor of today's publicly owned operator, the Chicago Transit Authority.
The River North Gallery District or simply River North, in Chicago, is in the Near North Side, Chicago. It once hosted the largest concentration of art galleries in the United States outside of Manhattan. River North has experienced vast changes in the years 1990 - 2012, including the development of large high-rise buildings, nightclubs and restaurants. River North has become one of Chicago's top neighborhoods for nightlife especially on and around Hubbard Street.Today there are far fewer galleries but the artistic spirit remains, with regular art openings taking place as well as a Fall River North Design District Walk taking place every September.
LaSalle is an 'L' station on the CTA's Blue Line. It is a subway station with a single island platform located at 150 West Ida B. Wells Drive in the Loop district of Chicago, Illinois.
The Loop is the 1.79-mile (2.88 km) long circuit of elevated rail that forms the hub of the Chicago "L" system in the United States. As of 2022, the branch served 31,893 passengers every weekday. The Loop is so named because the elevated tracks loop around a rectangle formed by Lake Street, Wabash Avenue (east), Van Buren Street (south), and Wells Street (west). The railway loop has given its name to Chicago's downtown, which is also known as the Loop.
Michael Jordan's Restaurant was a multi-level restaurant and sports bar located at 500 N. LaSalle Street in Chicago, Illinois, United States of America. Named after Michael Jordan, a basketball player with the Chicago Bulls, the restaurant was once one of the most popular tourist spots in Chicago. It operated from 1993 until 1999, closing shortly after Jordan's second retirement from playing basketball.
The South Side Elevated Railroad was the first elevated rapid transit line in Chicago, Illinois. The line ran from downtown Chicago to Jackson Park, with branches to Englewood, Normal Park, Kenwood, and the Union Stock Yards. The first 3.6 miles (5.8 km) of the line opened on June 6, 1892. Much of its route is still used today as part of the Green Line of the Chicago "L" system.
Hendler Creamery is a historic industrial complex in Jonestown, Baltimore, Maryland. Since it spans an entire block it has addresses at 1100 E. Baltimore St. and 1107 E. Fayette St. "The Hendler Creamery is historically significant for its contribution to the broad patterns of history in three areas of significance: transportation, performing arts, and industry."
The Northwestern Elevated Railroad was the last of the privately constructed rapid transit lines to be built in Chicago. The line ran from the Loop in downtown Chicago north to Wilson Avenue in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood with a branch to Ravenswood and Albany Park that left the main line at Clark Street. The Ravenswood line is now operated as the Brown Line, while the Main Line is used by the Purple and Red Lines.
The Metropolitan main line was a rapid transit line of the Chicago "L" system from 1895 to 1958. It ran west from downtown to a junction at Marshfield station. At this point the Garfield Park branch continued westward, while the Douglas Park branch turned south, and the Logan Square branch turned north with the Humboldt Park branch branching from it. In addition to serving the Chicago "L", its tracks and those of the Garfield Park branch also carried the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad, an interurban that served Chicago's western suburbs, between 1905 and 1953.
In 1900, Chicago already had the second largest cable car network in the United States and would eventually surpass New York City to have the largest streetcar network in the world in a few decades. In 1900, there were three private companies operating 41 miles (66.0 km) of double track routes radiating out from Chicago's downtown area. State of the art technology when the first line opened in 1882, by 1900 electric traction had proven superior and in 1906 all cable routes were changed to electrical power. Decades later, most were part of Chicago Transit Authority bus routes.
Madison was a rapid transit station on the Chicago "L"'s Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad, serving its Logan Square branch from 1895 to 1951. The station was typical of those constructed by the Metropolitan, with a Queen Anne station house and two wooden side platforms adjacent to the tracks. For much of its existence, Madison served the nearby sports arena Chicago Stadium.
Chicago was a rapid transit station on the Logan Square branch of the Chicago "L", one of the several branches of the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad, between 1895 and 1951. Located on Chicago Avenue, the station was constructed by the Metropolitan in the early 1890s and began service on May 6, 1895.