Logan Square branch
| Company type | Rapid transit branch |
|---|---|
| Industry | Public transportation |
| Founded | 1895 |
| Founder | Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad |
| Defunct | 1951 (original branch division) |
| Fate | Divided; portions continue as part of Chicago "L" system |
| Headquarters | Chicago , United States |
Area served | Logan Square, West Town, Chicago |
| Parent | Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad (original), later Chicago Elevated Railways, Chicago Rapid Transit Company, and Chicago Transit Authority |
The Logan Square branch was an elevated rapid transit segment of Chicago's Chicago "L", originally operated by the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad. Branching off northward from the Metropolitan's main line just west of Marshfield station, it commenced service in 1895, catering to the communities of Logan Square and West Town. Beyond Damen station, the Humboldt Park branch veered westward to provide transit access to Humboldt Park, Chicago. In 1951, the initial Logan Square branch was divided; portions of it continue to function in revenue service today.
Historically, what was known as the "Logan Square branch" comprised two routes: the Metropolitan's Northwest branch which diverged at Marshfield and extended northwest to Damen, where it split into the Humboldt Park branch and the primary Logan Square branch. By 1898, the Metropolitan Railroad regarded the Northwest branch as part of the Logan Square branch, although ridership statistics were maintained separately for each route.
The Northwest branch along with the main line were the inaugural lines of the Metropolitan to begin operations on May 6, 1895; these together represented the first electric elevated railroad in the United States to carry paying passengers. The Logan Square branch proper opened shortly after on May 25, followed by the Humboldt Park branch on July 29. The Metropolitan managed these lines until control transitioned to the Chicago Elevated Railways trust in 1911, which later consolidated into the Chicago Rapid Transit Company in 1924.
Plans introduced in the late 1930s called for the Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway to provide a more direct downtown connection from Logan Square. Originally, elevated service was intended to continue alongside this new subway. However, after taking over operation of the "L" system in 1947, the publicly owned Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) decided to end elevated service once the subway became operational.
With the subway’s inauguration in 1951, the original Logan Square branch was effectively split: areas north of the subway portal became known as the "Milwaukee branch," which following closures and extensions now operates as part of the O'Hare branch of the Blue Line. The 1970 extension replaced the initial Logan Square terminal with a new subway through-station. South of this subway section, although no longer serving regular passenger trains but still connected to the network, remained as a non-revenue track known as the Paulina Connector. After partial demolition and decades of inactivity, this segment resumed revenue service in 2006 integrated into the Pink Line.
History
The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad Company secured a 50-year franchise from the Chicago City Council on April 7, 1892, and promptly began acquiring rights of way. Its network featured a central main line extending west from downtown Chicago’s Loop area to Marshfield, where three branches diverged: northwest toward Damen, westbound to Garfield Park, and southwest heading to Douglas Park. The formally designated "Northwest branch" extended up to Robey station, where it divided into what was called the "Logan Square branch" continuing northwest and the Humboldt Park branch turning westward. By 1898, Metropolitan considered this Northwest segment part of its Logan Square branch. Construction on Northwest branch tracks was completed by October 1894, with trial runs occurring in April 1895; regular service between Robey and Canal started May 6. Service reached Logan Square on May 25, and subsequently extended along Humboldt Park on July 29.
Operations were initially handled by West Side Construction Company—the builder of these lines—until October 6, 1896, when control officially transferred to Metropolitan. Since both entities shared overlapping leadership and investors, this change was largely procedural. Financial difficulties caused by construction expenses forced Metropolitan into receivership in 1897. A similarly named entity, Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railway Company, was created in January 1899 and assumed operations on February 3. On July 1, 1911, this Metropolitan company joined forces under the umbrella of Chicago Elevated Railways (CER), a de facto holding company that unified management and introduced free transfers between lines starting in 1913 while preserving legal independence among companies. In 1924 these companies formally merged into one entity: the Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT), effective January 9; Metropolitan thus became CRT’s Metropolitan Division. Although debates over public ownership persisted throughout the period known as the Chicago Traction Wars, municipal control via the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) was not established until 1945; CTA officially took over "L" operations on October 1, 1947.
Inauguration of the Milwaukee–Dearborn Subway
Efforts to construct a subway in Chicago aimed at reducing congestion on elevated railways can be traced back to the early 1900s. In 1937, Chicago applied to the Public Works Administration (PWA) for financial support to develop a subway beneath State Street. The initial proposal included two east-west streetcar tunnels, but PWA head Harold L. Ickes rejected this and instead advocated for a second subway line running under Dearborn Street and Milwaukee Avenue, providing a direct connection from Logan Square to downtown. Despite opposition from local figures, notably Mayor Edward Joseph Kelly, the Dearborn subway plan was approved in 1938. By 1939, a proposal emerged to replace the Metropolitan main line and Garfield Park branch with rapid transit running through a superhighway along Congress Street (later known as Interstate 290), aiming to link transit routes through downtown instead of using a trunk-and-branch system.
The initial designs did not intend for the immediate discontinuation of the old Logan Square branch; there were suggestions to connect it with the Ravenswood branch and route trains through a new Ashland Avenue subway to create a crosstown line. Damen Tower was reconstructed with the expectation it would facilitate transfers between subway and elevated trains, similar to how the State Street subway connected with the North Side main line. Up until 1949, commuters were assured that arrangements preserving Logan Square’s elevated tracks would be implemented. However, the CTA ultimately decided against operating the former Logan Square elevated or Humboldt Park branches; transfer equipment was never installed at Damen Tower, and the southern Logan Square branch was closed following the opening of the Dearborn subway.
Although construction of the Dearborn subway reached approximately 82% completion by 1942, work was suspended due to World War II; only construction on the State Street subway continued during this period. After the war ended, building efforts resumed, culminating in the Dearborn Street subway’s opening at midnight on February 25, 1951. At that time, service on the Humboldt Park branch was reduced to a shuttle terminating at Damen station. The outdated Lake Street Transfer station was closed while Ashland station on Lake Street was reopened. The new subway shortened travel time between Logan Square and downtown from 28 minutes to just 15. Trains ended at LaSalle since construction of the Congress Line had not yet begun. Despite complaints from riders about losing direct service to the Near West Side, ridership on the new subway surpassed that of the old Logan Square branch by more than 60% within its first year.
Post-1951 Developments
Following replacement of the southern portion of the branch in 1951, these two transit segments evolved independently.
Humboldt Park Branch Closure and O'Hare Branch Expansion
The Humboldt Park branch was scheduled for closure by 1950 and ceased operations in 1952. Meanwhile, the remaining Logan Square branch underwent extensions: reaching Jefferson Park in 1970, Rosemont in 1983, and eventually arriving at O'Hare Airport by 1984.
Paulina Connector
The section connecting the junction northwest of the subway portal with other Metropolitan West Side branches remained intact as the Paulina Connector, serving as a non-revenue track. This retention was necessary because rerouting other branches from the Loop into the Milwaukee–Dearborn subway severed their earlier links within the "L" network. During construction that replaced the Garfield Park branch with the Congress branch, a new junction connected the Paulina Connector to the Lake Street branch, allowing Douglas branch trains temporary access to the Loop. Once construction concluded, Douglas trains resumed their subway routing and the connector reverted to non-revenue status. The northern segment beyond Lake Street was demolished in 1964 after becoming obsolete.
By 2003, as it remained the only connection between the Blue Line and other lines and required refurbishment, the Paulina Connector was rebuilt during upgrades to the Cermak branch. In 2006, CTA introduced a new service utilizing this connector for Cermak branch trains to reach downtown via Lake Street—now operating as the Pink Line.
Except for the Paulina Connector and Blue Line segment between Damen and Logan Square, a truss bridge located at Paulina and Kinzie Streets continues to be used as a signal bridge over former Metra rail tracks.
Infrastructure and rolling stock
Prior to the 1894 decision to electrify, the Metropolitan procured steam locomotives from Baldwin Locomotive Works, which were subsequently converted into electric "motor cars" and unpowered "trailers." Early electric trains commonly consisted of one motor car pulling several trailers. A distinctive operational feature was the Humboldt Park trains pushing trailers onto Logan Square trains for downtown travel, except during peak hours or nighttime when trains operated independently. The introduction of multiple-unit control between 1904 and 1905 eliminated the need to push trailers; however, some Logan Square and Humboldt Park train combinations at Damen continued until 1950.
Similar to other entities that established the Chicago "L," the Metropolitan initially relied on wooden rolling stock. Pullman manufactured the first trailer cars, while Barney and Smith produced the initial motor cars; subsequent orders were fulfilled by Pullman, Harlan and Hollingsworth, American Car and Foundry (ACF), Jewett, among others. Wooden cars remained predominant throughout the early 1900s. After CER assumed control, it commissioned steel-bodied "4000-series" cars from Cincinnati Car Company in 1914 and again in 1924; nonetheless, wooden cars remained in use on the Logan Square branch as late as 1949. The debut of metal-bodied 6000-series cars in August 1950 represented a significant transition, with these units assigned to Logan Square and Humboldt Park branches ahead of subway inaugurations, since only metal cars were permitted within subway tunnels.
Schedules and fares
At the outset, Metropolitan trains operated at six-minute intervals from 6 a.m. until 6:30 p.m., switching to ten-minute intervals overnight. The average speed was around 16 mph, with a travel time of 22 minutes between Robey and Canal stations. Although plans to discontinue overnight service were proposed in 1950, they were deferred until after the subway's opening.
Fare prices remained fixed at five cents during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, briefly increasing to six cents in 1917 before stabilizing at ten cents in 1920. Starting in 1922, tickets were frequently sold in bundles of three for twenty-five cents, while single fares stayed at ten cents. That same year marked the introduction of a $1.25 weekly pass—the first of its kind in a major U.S. city outside Evanston and Wilmette.
Unlike other elevated railroads, the Metropolitan required passengers to pay fares directly to station agents rather than using tickets—a system later adopted industry-wide. Initially, station agents worked around the clock; between 1931 and 1937, conductors began collecting fares on certain branches during nighttime and off-peak hours, with some lines reinstating full-time agents by 1935.
Ridership
From 1900 through 1903, Robey station recorded the highest ridership on both the Northwest branch and the entire Logan Square branch. In 1900, Western held the top spot on Logan Square branch ridership before being surpassed by Logan Square terminal starting in 1901. Beginning in 1904, Logan Square terminal consistently ranked as the busiest station on the combined branch annually, although Robey remained the busiest on the Northwest branch through 1945 and again in 1948.
Ridership peaked around 4.8 million passengers on the Northwest branch in 1900, while Logan Square branch reached its highest volume near 5.5 million riders in 1926. Prior to 1937, ridership figures for Lake Street Transfer were reported separately; following consolidation, Madison and Grand stations registered the lowest ridership on Northwest and combined branches respectively. On the Logan Square branch itself, Logan Square terminal had the lowest ridership in 1900, with Western holding that distinction thereafter.
Stations
| Station | Location | Opened | Closed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Cta | Intersection of Kedzie Boulevard and Linden Place | May 25, 1895 | 1970; subsequently demolished | Superseded by Logan Square subway station |
| Template:Cta | California Avenue at Lyndale Street | |||
| Template:Cta | Located at Western Avenue, Cortland Street, and Milwaukee Avenue | |||
| Template:Cta | Junction of Damen Avenue, North Avenue, and Milwaukee Avenue | May 6, 1895 | Originally named "Robey" | Connection point for Humboldt Park Branch |
| Template:Cta | Division Street and Paulina Street intersection | February 25, 1951 | ||
| Template:Cta | Corner of Chicago Avenue and Paulina Street | |||
| Template:Cta | Grand Avenue at Paulina Street | |||
| Template:Cta | Lake Street and Paulina Street junction | Opened under the name "Lake." Served as transfer to Lake Street. | ||
| Template:Cta | 1720 West Madison Street location |