The Jackson Park terminal at Stony Island/63, looking north in 1946. (Photo from the Chicago Transit Authority Collection)

Jackson Park (1600E/6300S)
Stony Island Avenue and 63rd Street, Woodlawn

Service Notes:

North-South Route, Jackson Park branch

Quick Facts:

Address: 1600 E. 63rd Street
Established: May 12, 1893
Original Line: South Side Rapid Transit
Previous Names: Stony Island

Skip-Stop Type:

Station
Rebuilt: n/a
Status: Demolished

History:

The Jackson Park station looking west (and slightly north). As is evident in the picture, when serve was cut back to this station after the Columbian Exposition, the structure was literally just chopped off. This station was considered by many the "ugly duckling" of the "L" system. (Photo from Chicago's "L"/Subway System: Loop "L" Centennial from All-the-6000s-You-Missed Productions)
The Stony Island terminal was a big transportation hub for many years, connecting to buses, street cars and motor coaches. For a while, the line continued past this station to the Jackson Park station, built above the annex to the Transportation Building at the World's Columbian Exposition, which was held in the South Side park from 1893-1894. During late night and early morning hours, the fair grounds were closed and trains terminated here. On October 31, 1893, Jackson Park terminal was closed, making Stony Island (then renamed Jackson Park) the end of the line.

In 1971, the CTA embarked on a $122 million capital improvement program, but for every project that was completed during the five-year program (including the procurement of a new series of rapid transit cars, new safety signals on the North-South and West-Northwest Routes and new terminals at Kimball and Desplaines), many were never started. These latter category included a new terminal at Jackson Park. This facility was to include a bus terminal on the southwest corner of East 63rd and Stony Island, a new interlocking on the "L" west of the station and a new island platform and "modern" steel and glass station facility at track-level. Nothing ever came of this project, though it was resurrected periodically, most recently in the form of the intermodal facility at Dorchester, canceled in 1997.

On March 4, 1982, service on Jackson Park branch was suspended south of 61st Street due to structural defects in the Dorchester bridge over the Illinois Central Railroad. The city's Department of Transportation come up with a number of responses, which included cutting service to Cottage Grove or University on the west side of the IC tracks, abandoning the Jackson Park branch altogether and replacing the IC bridge and restoring service to the Stony Island terminal, the latter of which Mayor Byrne supported. On December 12, 1982, service was restored as far as the University Avenue stop. The defective bridge was later demolished as was the station building. By this time, the opening of the Dan Ryan Line had drawn away many Jackson Park riders who found it more convenient to board an "L" south of 63rd Street, even if they still had to take a bus. Today, a YMCA occupies the site.

An artist's rendering of the proposed Jackson Park terminal with "modern" station house and bus turnaround facility from the 1971 CTA Annual Report. (Scan courtesy of Michael Roegner)