Bryn Mawr (5600N/1200W)
Bryn Mawr Avenue and Broadway, Edgewater

Service Notes:

	Red Line: Howard
	Owl Service

Quick Facts:

Address: 1119 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue
Established: May 16, 1908
Original Line: Northwestern Elevated Railroad
Previous Names: Edgewater

Skip-Stop Type:

Station

Rebuilt: 1921, 1974
Status: In Use

History:

The Chicago City Council authorized the electrification of the tracks of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad's tracks from Graceland Avenue (Irving Park Road) to the city limits at Howard Avenue on July 1, 1907 to facilitate the extension of the Northwestern Elevated Railroad. Unlike Evanston, they did not require that the grade-level tracks be elevated, but they did prohibit the use of a third rail for safety's sake, necessitating the use of overhead trolley wire.

The first "L" station at this site was built in 1908 and was of simple frame grade-level construction, called Edgewater for its namesake neighborhood. In the mid-1910s, the Northwestern began to elevate the tracks north of Wilson, but work was slow due to the city's refusal to close intersecting streets and the narrow right-of-way. In early 1916, trains were moved onto a temporary trestle, but construction of a permanent embankment had to wait until the end of World War I due to a materials shortage. By early 1922, the new four track mainline was completed, allowing full express service to the city limits.

The renovated Bryn Mawr station house, seen here shortly after completion in 1974, had all new flooring, wall treatments, fare controls, agent's booth, and signage. For a larger view, click here. (Photo from the Chicago Transit Authority Collection)

The current station at Bryn Mawr was built circa 1921 as part of the elevation of the tracks of the Northwestern Elevated Railroad. The early 1920s-vintage station, whose design is a near-identical copy of the other stations like Argyle and Thorndale built in the same project, was designed by architect Charles P. Rawson and used an architectural design influenced by the Prairie School style. Their exterior was constructed of concrete, brick, and stone. The interior was rendered in plaster, wood, tile, and brick.

The station house is inside the solid-fill embankment of the elevated line, the main entrance being on the south side of the street. Flanking the station house on either side were retail spaces -- designed and built with the station so as to appear visually coordinated -- which filled out of the width of the embankment. Inside the station houses, the floors were terrazzo and in the center passengers found a decorative wooden ticket agent's booth. The island platform is between the middle two of four tracks (Tracks #2 and 3), which at the time served Howard- and Evanston-bound local trains and which now serves the Red Line.

It has wood decking and a canopy with metal columns down the center line which split into gently-curving gull wing-shaped roof supports at a height of about 7 feet or so, supporting a wooden canopy roof. The stairs were sheltered by wooden enclosures with wooden bottoms and windows on top, divided into rows of square panes, with swinging doors at the front of each enclosure. Windbreak partitions, with tongue-in-groove paneling and panels along the top, the center one of which was for station name signs, finished off the platforms, as built.

By 1926, the station's name -- which was originally Edgewater -- had been changed to Bryn Mawr.

Bryn Mawr station was rehabilitated in 1974, in a project that kept most of the station's existing superstructure and a good deal of the existing finished build-out, at least at the platform level. The rehab included a complete reworking of the station house, including a new front facade (some of the pilasters were left in place, but it received otherwise all-new facing, windows and doors), new fare controls and agent's booth, new concession, new flooring, and new wall and ceiling finishes. The basic form of the original station house remained visible, most readily identifiable in those arched columns, both otherwise it was an entirely new interior. The electrical and mechanical systems were upgraded as needed. One set of stairs to the station house and the auxiliary exit stairs were upgraded with new materials, but another of the stairs to the station house was replaced with an all-new escalator. All three vertical access paths received new lighting.

At platform level, more was left intact. The original 1920s canopy remained, although it was cleaned, repaired, and repainted. The wooden platform deck, while repaired and replaced as needed, remained in the same materials. New stainless steel, aluminum and Plexiglas enclosures were built around the stairs and escalator down to street-level, replacing the original wooden kiosks that had been there previously. All new lighting was installed under the canopy, as well as on the platform beyond the canopy. New signage was installed throughout the station. Currently, Bryn Mawr is the only station built in the 1920s North Side elevated project to still have its auxiliary exit stairway open and in use.

In 2006, the station name signs and column signs on the platform were replaced, with Current Graphic Standard signs replacing the KDR Standard graphics, and new entrance signs installed as part of a signage upgrade project on the Red Line. As part of this effort, the station also received granite compass roses inset into the sidewalk in front of the station entrance to assist customers leaving the station to navigate their way, and three-sided galvanized steel pylons in the station house and on the platform to display maps and station timetables.

 

Bryn Mawr's exterior got a new facade in the 1974 renovation. The Prairie School columns were retained, but otherwise the exterior was clad on nondescript brick facing with glass and stainless steel windows and doors, seen looking southwest on June 14, 2003. For a larger view, click here. (Photo by Graham Garfield)

	brynmawr01.jpg (31k) The Bryn Mawr station circa 1960 looking north from the northbound express track. Two 6000-series trains wait at the platform, the one on the right northbound, the left southbound. This photograph was taken from a moving northbound North Shore Line train. (Photo from North Shore Line, from Sunday River Productions)
	brynmawr05.jpg (180k) Across from the main entrance, a corridor leads back from the sidewalk on the north side of Bryn Mawr Avenue to an auxiliary exit from the platform, controlled by two rotogates. Seen looking north June 14, 2003, this side was not modified in the 1974 station rehab, showing what the original exteriors looked like, including the light fixtures. (Photo by Graham Garfield)
	brynmawr06.jpg (152k) The interior of the Bryn Mawr station house is still largely as it was outfitted in the 1974 renovation, with the exception of modern Cubic farecard turnstiles, seen looking south at the fare controls from the unpaid area on June 14, 2003. (Photo by Graham Garfield)
	brynmawr07.jpg (84k) A man poses at the new agent's booth, controlled by a Visifare turnstile, at the reopening celebration festivities following extensive renovation at Bryn Mawr station on May 12, 1974. (CTA Photo)
	brynmawrSign.jpg (35k) An original blue and white enamel Bryn Mawr platform sign. These remained at the station until its renovation in the mid-1970s. (Photo from North Shore Line, from Sunday River Productions)
	ctaS-330b.jpg (104k) Line car S-330, seen passing Bryn Mawr station on October 4, 1972, was created from Northwestern wood car 1755 in April 1956. The car body was built from 1755 and salvaged materials from the Skokie carpenter's shop and the lift platform, which is raised by a hoist, was salvages from a CSL truck. (Photo by Steve Zabel, Collection of Joe Testagrose)