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History:
 The
Normal Park branch of the Englewood line, which was less
than one mile long, left the main line at Harvard
and went six blocks due south. Opening in 1907, the only
major traffic generator on this line was the Chicago Normal
School, a teachers' college near the 69th Street
terminal.
The design on the station house is similar to that of the
Racine station on the Englewood
branch, indicating that Racine
architect Earl Nielson may also be responsible for this
structure. It was constructed of brick with copper and wood
trim, stone sills and limestone column bases executed in the
Greek Revival style. The articulated cornice, triglyphs and
pilasters resembled a Doric temple.
At 69th station, only the east platform was used for
loading and unloading, with the other track for lay-ups.
There was a tower at the north end of the east platform at
one point, but it is questionable how often it was manned,
especially in later years. Later, there were just two
crossovers, with one being equipped with a spring
switch.
Service to and from the Normal Park Branch was varied and
changed throughout the line's 47 year existence. During the
South Side Elevated's time, Normal Park cars were coupled
onto Englewood trains at Harvard
for the trip north. This practice continued even after
crosstown service began in 1913 and Englewood/Normal Park
trains were through-routed to Wilson.
On February 23, 1931, the CRT revamped crosstown service.
Englewood/Normal Park trains were routed to the Ravenswood
during rush hour and terminated in the Loop during off-peak
times. Upon it's opening in 1943, these trains were
through-routed at all times via the State Street Subway.
On August 1, 1949, the
CTA® initiated their
North-South service revision and turned the Normal Park
branch into a shuttle operation. A single train of one or
two wood cars usually worked the branch back and forth
between 69th and Harvard
stations. 69th station had its agent eliminated in 1949.
Afterward, conductors collected fares at all times on the
branch, except at the Harvard transfer point. Because of the
need to secure 69th Street station at night due to the cars
stored on the stub tracks above, the station was heavily
modified. Most of the doors were permanently bolted shut and
the others had switch locks put on them. One door was left
for access. It was originally an exit door, but instead of
installing a handle on the outside so that it could also
function as an entrance, a nail was hammered into the top of
the door so it couldn't close all the way and passengers had
to slip their fingers in the crack and pull the door open.
Not very inviting!
The short branch was abandoned in January 1954 as
hopelessly unprofitable and having no real future for
improvement.
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