Logan Square (3200W/2600N)
Kedzie Boulevard and Linden Place, Logan Square

Service Notes:

West-Northwest Route, Milwaukee branch

Quick Facts:

Address: TBD
Established: May 25, 1895
Original Line: Metropolitan West Side Elevated, Logan Square branch
Previous Names: none

Skip-Stop Type:

Station

Rebuilt: n/a
Status: Demolished, replaced (1970)

History:

A Milwaukee-Douglas B train stops at Logan Square on July 20, 1968. Only two years later, the elevated station would be gone, replaced by a subway station. (Photo by Douglas Grotjahn, Collection of Joe Testagrose)

The Logan Square station served as the terminal of the Northwest branch of the Metropolitan Elevated (and successor Logan Square branch of the CRT and CTA ) for 90 years. The complex included a double-track, two platform station, a 14 car inspection shop built of corrugated iron and a storage yard that could hold 66 cars. The shop building was destroyed in a fire that consumed it along with part of the station and yard on September 2, 1901. Soon after, a more substantial brick shop was constructed and used until 1970.

The station house was nearly identical all the other stations on the Logan Square Branch, like California, one stop south (still in use) and Lake Street Transfer (now gone). The station house featured dual doors set in a bay outcropping. The exterior consisted of extensive terra cotta work, including the word "entrance" above one door and "exit" above the other, dentils above the doors' story lights, carved wooden beads flush with the building between the wooden brackets which supported a round wooden eave.

In 1928, the station house received an overhaul. The exterior was completely revamped, most likely by architect Arthur U. Gerber (the design is rife with his trademark details), in a design combining Doric and Beaux-Arts elements, executed in Terra Cotta. Perhaps most identifiable are the laurel-framed cartouches and pair of Greek-revival Doric columns. Like his work at Sheridan and South Blvd., "Rapid Transit" was inscribed in terra cotta above the door. Store fronts were included in the new structure.

Although its days were soon numbered, the Logan Square terminal received some capital improvements during the first two decades of CTA operation. In September 1952, the north platform, adjacent to the car shop, was extended to allow an eight-car train to fully berth. In the CTA's 1958 expansion plan, with the planned Northwest extension planned as a branch off the Milwaukee Line near Talman Avenue, the Logan Square terminal was to be retained and modernized as part of a $75,000 expansion and improvement project. New side platforms and canopies, a new station house (or, at least an all-new modernized exterior), and a multilane, covered bus terminal in Linden Place were all to be built to accommodate an 80% increase in passenger traffic. The only substantial improvement to be installed was an escalator between the station house and the south platform in 1965. It saw only five years of service.

In the late 1960s, it was decided the Logan Square branch was to be extended passed its namesake terminal for the first time, reaching Jefferson Park via a new subway and the median of the Kennedy Expressway. However, unlike the earlier plan, the extension would not be operated as a branch off the Milwaukee Elevated but rather as an extension. As a result, the tracks had to descend into the subway before Logan Square, necessitating the removal of the old elevated station and the construction of a new subterranean facility. The elevated terminal closed on February 1, 1970, concurrently with the opening of the new Kennedy extension and the new subway station.

For years after the Logan Square station moved into the subway, the old station house remained as it stood when it was in use, with the storefronts all still occupied. The platform, yard, and shop structures were removed soon after closure, however. Later, the station house building was modified with additional stories and a new facade. As such, the building, at least on a structural level, still stands, although it is completely unrecognizable as the 1928-built Gerber-designed structure.

For additional information and photos of the new Logan Square subway station (1970-present), click here.

The north platform at the Logan Square terminal is seen here looking east in April 1958, with a train of 4000-series cars occupying Track 2 (a second side platform is on the south, on the other side of the train). The canopy design is typical of Met stations. The Logan Square Shop is visible adjacent to the platform. The two platforms connect at the west end of the station, where the photographer is standing. In two months, the Milwaukee Elevated would be through-routed with the new Congress Line and the Douglas branch. (Photos from the Chicago Transit Authority Collection)

	logan_postcard.jpg (256k) The Logan Square Yard is seen looking southeast in this early postcard view, with wood "L" cars lined up on the yard's storage tracks. The ends of the terminal platforms are visible at the bottom. Based on the angle of the view, the image was probably taken from inside the inspection shop. (Postcard from the Graham Garfield Collection)
	crt1233.jpg (89k) This undated photo shows CRT car 1233 in the yard at Logan Square. Several North Side cars were used on the Metropolitan Division during the late 20s and early 30s. Car 1233 was part of 25 car order filled in 1900 from American Car & Foundry's Jeffersonville, IN plant. As delivered, 23 of the cars (including the 1233) did not have control equipment. The other two cars in the order came with GE C-36 controls. (Photo from the Jeff Obarek Collection)
	logansquare07.jpg (130k) Logan Square terminal was a major transfer point for Northwest Side transit riders from the time the station opened in 1895. Here, a gas-powered Twin Coach on the #82 Kimball route is at the head of a line of buses along the Linden Place side of the station in 1954. (Photo from the Chicago Transit Authority Collection)
	logansquare11.jpg (74k) The Logan Square terminal is seen here looking northwest from Linden Place in April 1958. The south elevation of the station house is visible on the left. The south platform, visible above, had an auxiliary exit stair at the east end of the platform to help transferring passengers get to buses on Linden Place quicker, without going through the station house. The stairs on the left go into the headhouse. (Photo from the CTA Collection)
	logan04.jpg (297k) A pair of later-generation 6000-series cars is seen parked on Track 1N in front of the the Logan Square Shop, viewed from the south platform looking west on March 12, 1964. The shop building was over 60 years old, but the trackside bays had been reconfigured only about 14 years earlier. (CTA photo)
	logan07.jpg (297k) This aerial view shows the Logan Square yard and terminal as it appeared in 1968, looking northwest. Note that construction on the subway extension is visible on the right. (CTA photo)
	cta2000s02.jpg (112k) A train of 2000s assigned to the Douglas-Milwaukee "B" stand along a set of 6000s on the Congress-Milwaukee "A" run -- both wearing the Mint Green and Alpine White of the 1960s and 70s -- at the Logan Square terminal on July 20, 1968. (Photo by Doug Grotjahn, Collection of Joe Testagrose)
	logansquare12.jpg (68k) For years after the Logan Square station moved into the subway, the old station house remained as it stood when it was in use, with the storefronts all still occupied. The platform, yard, and shop structures were removed soon after closure, however. This view looks northeast circa 1976. (Photo by Michael Roegner)