fbpx
Wikipedia

Damen station (CTA Blue Line)

Damen is an elevated rapid transit station on the Chicago "L", currently serving the O'Hare branch of its Blue Line. Opened on May 6, 1895, as Robey, it is the oldest station on the Blue Line. The station serves the popular Bucktown and Wicker Park neighborhoods, and is consistently in the top 40 highest-ridership "L" stations. It has two wooden side platforms and a brick station house at street level. The west platform, serving southbound trains, contains a tower that has never been used but is a relic of the station's past.

Damen
 
2000W
1600N
Chicago 'L' rapid transit station
General information
Location1558 North Damen Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60622
Coordinates41°54′35″N 87°40′39″W / 41.90972°N 87.67750°W / 41.90972; -87.67750Coordinates: 41°54′35″N 87°40′39″W / 41.90972°N 87.67750°W / 41.90972; -87.67750
Owned byChicago Transit Authority (1947–present)
Chicago Rapid Transit Company (1924–1947)
See text before 1924
Line(s)Blue Line
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
Connections#50, #56, and #72 bus routes
Construction
Structure typeElevated
Bicycle facilitiesYes
Disabled accessNo
Other information
Websitewww.transitchicago.com/station/damo/
History
OpenedMay 6, 1895
Previous namesRobey (before 1927)
Passengers
2021705,715  21.1% (CTA)
Rank22 out of 145
Services
Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station
Western
toward O'Hare
Blue Line Division
Former services
Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station
Western Logan Square branch Division
Closed 1951
toward Marshfield
Western
Closed 1952
toward Lawndale
Humboldt Park branch Terminus
Track layout
Blue Line
northwest to O'Hare
Damen Ave.
Damen tower
North Ave.
Milwaukee Ave.
Location

Robey was constructed by the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad to serve its Logan Square and Humboldt Park branches, being the last stop on the Logan Square branch before the Humboldt Park branch diverged from it. The Metropolitan's operations, along with the rest of the "L", were assumed by the private Chicago Rapid Transit Company in 1924 and the public Chicago Transit Authority in 1947. The rail lines that had been constructed by the Metropolitan were significantly altered in the 1950s, a process that entailed the closure of the Humboldt Park branch and the replacement of the Logan Square branch south of Damen with the Milwaukee-Dearborn subway. By 1958, this had created the "West-Northwest Route", which was renamed the Blue Line in 1992. The Logan Square branch, renamed the "Milwaukee branch" during this process, was piecemeally extended to O'Hare International Airport between 1970 and 1984, forming the modern O'Hare branch.

Throughout these changes, the Damen station itself remained remarkably well-preserved, being among other things one of the last stations on the system to retain its historic gooseneck lights. The station is a contributing property to the Milwaukee Avenue District, which is a Chicago landmark, and was renovated for the 100th anniversary of its opening in 1995. After suffering a decline in the mid-to-late 20th century, the station's popularity increased in the early 21st century, leading to another renovation in 2014. Despite these renovations, the station remains limited in its accessibility for disabled patrons due to its advanced age and the neighborhood's protected status. It is served by three bus routes on Damen, Milwaukee, and North Avenues, which are each descended from streetcar lines on those streets in the early 20th century. The Blue Line has owl service; while the surrounding streetcar lines also had owl service in the early 20th century, the modern bus services do not.

History

Proposals for the construction of an elevated railway above Milwaukee Avenue dated to at least 1872, although opposition existed from the public due to the feared impact of property values.[1] The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad Company was granted a 50-year franchise by the Chicago City Council on April 7, 1892,[2] and began securing right of way shortly thereafter.[3] The Metropolitan's operations comprised a main line that went west from downtown to Marshfield, where three branches – one northwest to Logan Square, one due west to Garfield Park, and one southwest to Douglas Park – diverged and served various parts of Chicago's west side.[4] A further branch to Humboldt Park proceeded due west from the Logan Square branch just past Robey Street.[a][4][5] Unlike the competing South Side and Lake Street Elevateds, the Metropolitan never used steam traction. Although it had originally intended to, and indeed had built much of its structure under the assumption that locomotives would be used,[8] it decided in May 1894 to have electrified tracks instead,[9] making it upon its opening the first revenue electric elevated railroad in the United States.[10]

The Metropolitan's tracks by the site of the future Robey station were finished by the middle of October 1894, and were powered on in April 1895 for test and inspection runs.[5] Public opposition led to the local portion of the elevated being placed above an alley adjacent to Milwaukee Avenue rather than the avenue itself.[1] The Metropolitan began service at 6 a.m. on Monday, May 6, 1895, between Robey on the Logan Square branch[a] and Canal on the main line.[11] Of the eleven stations opened that day,[11] Robey is the only one still surviving, making it the oldest station on what is now the Blue Line.[b] The Logan Square branch was extended to Logan Square on May 25, and the Humboldt Park branch opened on July 29.[5] Robey Street, on which the station lay and named for politician James Robey, was renamed Damen Avenue in 1927 for Father Arnold Damen.[14]

The Metropolitan's lines were originally operated by the West Side Construction Company, which had been responsible for constructing them, and were transferred to the Metropolitan on October 6, 1896.[15] The backers and officers of the two companies were largely identical, however, so this transfer of ownership was nominal.[4][15] The expenses incurred in constructing the Metropolitan's vast trackage would catch up to the company, which entered receivership in 1897; the similarly-named Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railway Company was organized in January 1899 and assumed operations on February 3 of that year.[16] The new Metropolitan, along with the other companies operating "L" lines in Chicago, became a part of the Chicago Elevated Railways (CER) trust on July 1, 1911.[17] CER acted as a de facto holding company for the "L" – unifying its operations, instituting the same management across the companies, and instituting free transfers between the lines starting in 1913 – but kept the underlying companies intact.[18] This continued until the companies were formally merged into the single Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT) in 1924, which assumed operations on January 9; the former Metropolitan was designated the Metropolitan division of the CRT for administrative purposes.[19] Although municipal ownership of transit had been a hotly-contested issue for half a century, the publicly-owned Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) would not be created until 1945,[20] or assume operation of the "L" until October 1, 1947.[21]

 
Damen's services before and after the 1950s. The station is represented by a blue marker.
  The Logan Square and Humboldt Park branches, and Metropolitan main line, prior to 1951
  The Loop, to which Damen connected prior to 1951[6]
  The modern-day Blue Line, the descendant of the post-1958 "West-Northwest Route"[12]
Other Metropolitan branches and the Wells Street Terminal are not depicted.

The CTA instituted major changes on the lines built by the Metropolitan that had been planned since the late 1930s.[22][23] The Logan Square branch south of Damen was replaced by the Milwaukee-Dearborn subway, which opened on February 25, 1951.[12] With the subway's opening, the CTA restricted the Humboldt Park branch to a shuttle service to and from Damen,[12] and closed it altogether on May 5, 1952.[24] Combined with the replacement of the main line and Garfield Park branch with the Congress Line in 1958, this formed a new route called the "West-Northwest Route", which entered service on June 22, 1958.[25] This route was renamed the Blue Line in 1992.[26] Skip-stop, where certain "A" and "B" trains stopped at respective "A" and "B" stations, was instituted with the 1951 opening of the subway; Damen was deemed an "all-stop" station and was thus unaffected by this introduction.[12] The Logan Square branch, referred to by the CTA as the "Milwaukee branch" after the completion of the West-Northwest Route,[27] was extended past Logan Square to Jefferson Park on February 1, 1970.[28] Further extensions were made to River Road in 1983 and finally O'Hare International Airport on September 3, 1984, forming the modern O'Hare branch.[29]

The Damen station remained remarkably well-preserved throughout the 20th century and the early 21st. Prominent in this were the station's historic gooseneck lights; alongside Wilson, it was one of the last stations on the "L" to retain such lights.[30] Having been credited with spurring development of the surrounding neighborhood upon its construction, the station was included as a contributing property to the "Milwaukee Avenue District",[31] which was designated a Chicago landmark on April 9, 2008.[32] The station was not itself made a landmark; nevertheless, the CTA has presented the landmarked status of its surroundings, and the station's general historic fabric, as part of the excessive difficulty in making the station accessible for disabled people.[33]

Station renovations and rehabilitations

 
California's station house in 2011. Damen's station house was of a similar design until 1995.
 
Damen station house in 2022

Damen's platforms were extended to accommodate eight-car trains in the early 1930s, around the same time as the rest of the Metropolitan Division's stations. These platform extensions were complete in 1931. A further extension of the northbound platform was built by the CTA in 1951, alongside an auxiliary exit onto North Avenue. Sometime before 1946, the southern (viewer's left) facade window of the station house was replaced with a doorway containing two doors; these doors, which were likely added as a result of the station's high ridership, were disused and locked by 1970. Damen Tower was rebuilt in 1950, but various factors rendered the new tower superfluous upon its construction, and it was never equipped for use in switching. Around the same time, a crosswalk connecting the main platforms with a new single platform south of the Humboldt Park tracks was constructed for Humboldt Park riders, going through the new tower, and would be used until the Humboldt Park branch's 1952 closure.[30]

By 1985, Damen and its adjacent stations were singled out for being among the "L" stations in the worst repair.[34] Damen was renovated for its 100th anniversary in 1995. The terra cotta elements of the station house's bay were removed and replaced with a more rustic appearance. In addition, the station house's interior was significantly overhauled, receiving new woodwork, having its fare control and agent's booth rearranged, and being furnished with pictures of the station's history. Much of the station's platform railings were replaced with simpler tubing in 1998, and the platforms' metalwork was restored and refurbished in late 2003. In 2011, most of the station's historic gooseneck lights were replaced by modern "shoebox" design light fixtures, although these fixtures were in turn replaced by reproductions of the original in May 2012.[30]

On December 22, 2014, the Damen station reopened after having been closed since October 20 for renovations, part of the CTA's $492 million "Your New Blue" project; Damen alone took $13.6 million to renovate, and combined with renovations to California and Western stations totaled $25.6 million. The renovation entailed increasing room in the station house's interior and refurbishing it, augmenting cycling facilities, and replacing the roof. Signage was also updated, a wider turnstile was installed for strollers and luggage, the platforms and stairs were replaced, and modern gooseneck lights were used to replicate the originals. The reopening was celebrated by local restaurants and establishments offering discounts to commuters, and the station was remarked by alderman Joe Moreno as "a vital link for Chicago to the Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhood ... benefit[ing] from a modernized station."[35] The renovation was contracted out to F. H. Paschen under the guidance of Matt Moss; much of the load-bearing masonry was found to be unusable and had to be replaced, but the work was still carried out on schedule.[36] Also included in the renovations were the restoration of the southern facade window and the installation of blue tactile paving on the platforms' edges.[37]

Concerns were raised for the accessibility of the station; no elevator access was added to the station despite its being the fourth-busiest station on the O'Hare branch.[35] Locals expressed disappointment in the lack of accessibility; although wheelchair-bound persons were the most affected, the most common requests for an elevator came from tourists with large luggage. The CTA defended the lack of accessibility as a byproduct of the station's heritage and resultant difficulty of adding accessibility features, and offered the possibility of such improvements in the future.[33]

Station details

Infrastructure and facilities

Damen has two wooden side platforms at track level and a station house at street level. The station house, made of red pressed brick and white limestone trim with a stone sill and foundation, was designed similarly to other stations on the Logan Square branch, with a corniced and dentiled front bay containing dual doors specifically marked "Entrance" and "Exit" and prolific use of terra cotta. The bay originally functioned as an antechamber, with doors on the interior into the station house as well as the exterior, but the interior doors were removed between 1960 and 1985.[30] Unlike elsewhere on the "L", station houses on the Metropolitan had central heating and a basement.[15] The station house is the only entrance to the station,[38] but an auxiliary exit exists on the northbound platform going down onto North Avenue.[30] The platforms have hipped roof tin canopies in the center and decorative cast-iron railings with diamond designs.[39] Platform extensions were built at various points throughout the 20th century; these extensions have simpler railings than the older parts of the platforms.[30] The Metropolitan's tracks and stations were constructed by the West Side Construction Company, a company with the same officers as the Metropolitan and the chief engineer of E. W. Elliot, with steel and iron from the Carnegie Steel Company.[15][4]

The station house originally had a built-in newsstand, but by 1960 this was used for storage. A new concession area was installed by the 1980s.[30] This stand, 80 sq ft (7.4 m2) in area, had its tenant forced out in November 2012 as the CTA transitioned from month-to-month leasing to longer-term contracts.[40] The stand remained vacant afterwards; a new tenant was secured in 2014 and would have opened in the summer of that year, but the CTA canceled such plans and decided to instead use the space to increase capacity for passengers in the renovation.[41] The Metropolitan installed bicycle storage racks at its stations.[15] Bicycle racks were added to the station's stairwell mezzanine in 2008,[30] and were increased in the 2014 renovation.[35] The 2014 renovation also added wider turnstiles for luggage and strollers, but did not include any accessibility improvements for riders with disabilities;[35] as of 2022, the station remains ADA-inaccessible.[42]

In 2018, an LED display named Soundtrack was installed on the bottom of the "L" tracks above Damen Avenue, comprising several panels that change color based on vibrations from passing trains and moving cars.[43]

Operations

 
Damen's historic gooseneck lights in 2002. Damen was one of the last stations on the Chicago "L" to retain such lights.

As originally opened, the Metropolitan's trains ran every six minutes between 6 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., and every ten minutes during the night. The average speed was 16 mph (26 km/h), and trains took 22 minutes to go from Robey to Canal.[11] The 1951 opening of the Dearborn subway was projected to take 13 minutes off the travel time between Logan Square and downtown;[12] as of 2022, trains take 14–15 minutes between Logan Square and Clark/Lake station downtown.[44] As of 2022, trains run at intervals ranging from 3 to 10 minutes during weekday rush hours from Damen.[45] The Blue Line has owl service, which serves Damen from 12:10 to 5:10 a.m. on weekdays and similar hours on weekends; during that time trains have intervals ranging from 10 to 30 minutes depending on the time of night.[45]

The fare across the "L" was legally mandated to be a nickel (5 cents, $1.37 in 2021) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The nickel fare continued until temporarily increased by a cent to 6 cents in 1917 ($1.27 in 2021) before stabilizing to a dime in 1920 (10 cents, $1.35 in 2021).[46] Starting in 1922, fares were usually marketed in packs of three rides for 25 cents, or 8+13 cents per ride ($1.35 per ride in 2021), but individual fares remained 10 cents each.[47] At the same time, a weekly pass was introduced, the first in a major American city, for $1.25 ($20.24 in 2021) for rides outside of Evanston and Wilmette.[47] As of 2022, the full fare for the "L" is $2.25, with a reduced fare of $1.25 and a student fare of 75 cents; passes are available, including a 7-day pass worth $20 and a 30-day pass worth $75.[48]

Unlike other elevated railroads at the time, the Metropolitan did not sell tickets for passengers to present to staff; instead customers gave their nickel to the station agent to record in a registry, a practice similar to streetcars at the time. This practice was ultimately adopted by the other elevateds.[15] As late as 1960, there was no fare control at the station besides the station agent.[30] Originally, station agents were on duty 24 hours a day; conductors were used on the Logan Square, Humboldt Park, and Northwest branches to instead collect fares on trains during night and off-peak hours from 1931 through 1937, except for the Northwest branch in 1935.[49] They returned to the Milwaukee branch in 1950, and continued in use until 1995.[50][51] Turnstiles were added to the station by 1985.[30]

Unlike the competing Lake Street Elevated, which provided smoking and non-smoking cars, all of the Metropolitan's cars originally allowed smoking.[11] Smoking was banned by the city across "L" facilities and in streetcars in response to a 1918 influenza outbreak, a prohibition that has remained in force ever since.[52]

Neighborhood and connections

Milwaukee Avenue had been a bustling commercial district in the area since the 1870s, underpinning a community of German and Scandinavian immigrants. The construction of the "L" in the area, and Robey station in particular, has been said to have divided the "first" and "second phases" of development on the street, the first phase dating from the 1871 Great Chicago Fire and the second continuing until the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The "second phase" of development spurred on by the "L" allowed for businesses to diversify and specialize, such that the district was considered "a city within the city".[53] Poles replaced Germans and Scandinavians starting in the 1890s, and Jews began to settle in the first decades of the 20th century. At the same time, middle-class skilled tradesmen gave way to a more working-class neighborhood. Nevertheless, property values on Milwaukee Avenue continued rising, doubling between 1911 and 1912.[54] Banks and office buildings came in the interwar period, such as the 12-story Northwest Tower in 1928.[55] Action was taken to ensure cleanliness and modernity of the district in 1927, which included streetlight improvements, the ban of sidewalk peddling, and the standardization of signage. The Great Depression and World War II interrupted the flow of immigrants to the area, causing it to decline.[56] By 1985, the O'Hare branch around Damen and Western was considered one of the most dangerous on the entire "L" system.[57] Revitalization started in the 1990s and Milwaukee Avenue is once again a busy shopping area.[56]

As of 2022, Damen station is served by the #50 Damen bus, the #56 Milwaukee bus, and the #72 North bus, each of which is a descendant of streetcar lines that ran starting in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[42] Horse cars, which had operated on Milwaukee Avenue intermittently since the 1850s and consistently since 1874, were upgraded to cable cars in 1890.[58] These were, in turn, replaced by streetcars on August 19, 1906. Streetcars were typically one car each in Chicago; two-car multiple-unit control trains ran on Milwaukee between March 2, 1925 and May 5, 1929.[59] As of 1928, the line had owl service between 1:05 and 5:35 a.m., wherein cars ran either every 15 minutes or every 30 minutes depending on destination;[60] during the day, streetcars in Chicago typically had intervals of eight to fifteen minutes.[61] Buses replaced streetcars on weekends on October 28, 1951, and altogether on May 11, 1952.[62] As of 2022, the #56 Milwaukee bus operates between 4:20 a.m. and 11:37 p.m. on weekdays and similar hours during the weekends and holidays, with intervals ranging from 6 to 25 minutes.[63]

Robey Street had a streetcar line in the station's vicinity by 1910.[64] By 1928, this route had owl service between 1:45 and 4:40 a.m., with a car running every 35 minutes in those hours.[60] Buses replaced streetcars in the area on weekends starting December 12, 1948, and assumed the route at all times on May 13, 1951.[65] As of 2022, the #50 Damen bus runs between 4:30 a.m. and 12:14 a.m. on weekdays and 5 a.m. and just after midnight during the weekends and holidays at 12- to 30-minute headways.[66] North Avenue had a local streetcar route running in the area by June 26, 1911, when a downtown service was begun via North and Milwaukee. The downtown service was discontinued on August 14, 1912.[62] As of 1928, the North Avenue streetcar had owl service between 1:30 and 4:38 a.m., running a streetcar every 30 minutes.[60] Streetcars were replaced by trolleybuses on December 4, 1949, which were in turn supplanted by conventional buses on February 1, 1953.[62] As of 2022, the #72 North bus runs between 3:26 a.m. and 2:05 a.m. on weekdays and around 3:30 a.m. and 2 a.m. during the weekends and holidays, with its intervals ranging from 7 to 21 minutes.[67]

Ridership

On opening day, 1,250 passengers had used Robey station by 3 p.m., and it was expected to accommodate around 10,000 patrons before the day closed.[11] Between 1900 and 1945, Damen was the highest-ridership station on the Northwest branch[a] every year, but starting in 1904 consistently lagged the original Logan Square terminal on the Logan Square branch, and in the 1940s struggled with California on the branch as well.[7] Ridership peaked in this era at 1,465,162 passengers in 1907, although it served more than a million passengers every year from 1901 through 1927 except for 1922.[68] Ridership started to plummet shortly thereafter during the Great Depression, bottoming out at 350,476 riders in 1933.[69] Its global performance on the "L" was lackluster during the late 1940s; in 1947, it was the 109th-busiest of the 222 "L" stations that were at least partially manned, whereas in 1948 it was the 96th-busiest of 223 such stations at the beginning of the year.[c][73] In 1946 and 1947, Damen was surpassed by Chicago on the Northwest branch, but regained the top spot in 1948.[72] This proved to be short-lived, however; although it briefly regained a million passengers in 1950 for the first time since 1927, after the subway was built it consistently had lower ridership than Division from 1953 through 2003, with a steadily-declining patronage that reached a new low of 329,367 riders in 1975.[50][51] Nevertheless, in 1978 it still had the fifth-highest ridership on the Milwaukee branch.[74] Ridership data is not available for 1949 or 1952.[75]

By 1979, the station served 780,908 passengers. Ridership steadily increased through the 1980s and 1990s, before once again reaching a million in 1997.[51] Ridership consistently exceeded a million every year thereafter; in 2006, a new all-time peak of 1,517,323 passengers was set.[51] After further growth, and a sustained annual ridership of a million or more, two million riders were recorded in 2012. Except for 2014, in which the station was closed for renovations for several months, ridership continued to surpass two million every year through 2019, peaking at 2,233,065 riders in 2015.[76] As of 2014, the station was the fourth-busiest on the O'Hare branch behind O'Hare, Jefferson Park, and Logan Square.[33] In 2019, the Damen station had a total ridership of 2,023,150, making it the 26th-most ridden of the "L"'s 145 stations; this declined by 71.2 percent to 582,967 in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which also reduced its ranking to the 33rd-most ridden station.[77] Ridership rebounded somewhat in 2021, increasing by 21.1 percent to 705,715, and rebounding its rank to the 22nd-most ridden station.[38]

Damen station ridership from 1900 through 2021, except for 1949 and 1952[51][76][78]

Damen Tower

 
Damen Tower in 2022

A tower has existed at Damen station since its opening in 1895. The original tower was used for switching trains between Humboldt Park and Logan Square. Electric trains in the late 19th century entailed one powered "motor car" pulling multiple unpowered "trailers". Humboldt Park trains were an exception; their motor cars pushed their trailers to Robey, where they would be coupled to Logan Square motor cars for the trip downtown. This was done outside of rush hours, when Humboldt Park trains ran through to downtown directly, and night periods, when they contained only one car. Multiple-unit control was adopted by the Metropolitan between 1904 and 1905 and ended this particular practice, but combining Humboldt Park and Logan Square trains at Damen continued until 1950.[79]

The current tower, built in 1950, has never been used. It was originally intended to switch trains between Logan Square and Humboldt Park like its predecessor, as well as switch trains between the Milwaukee-Dearborn subway and Logan Square elevated; the subway was intended to supplement the elevated, similar to how the State Street subway supplements the older elevated North Side main line. However, when the CTA assumed control, it decided to discontinue Humboldt Park service and the old Logan Square elevated, rendering the tower superfluous. Despite this, the tower was still built on the west side of the tracks on the northern end of the southbound platform. In acknowledgment of its uselessness, it was never equipped with a tower panel or any other switching equipment. After the new tower was built, the original tower continued to be used for switching trains between the branches until Humboldt Park service was discontinued and the interlocking removed in 1954, being demolished sometime in the late 1950s.[80]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Technically, the Logan Square branch started after Robey and was, like the Humboldt Park branch, a divergence from what was formally known as the "Northwest branch".[5] However, as early as 1898, even the Metropolitan itself was referring to the Northwest branch as part of the "Logan Square branch",[6] although ridership statistics continued to separate them.[7]
  2. ^ Division through Madison closed in 1951 with the opening of the subway,[12] and the remaining stations on the main line were replaced by the Congress Line.[13]
  3. ^ Several stations on the Niles Center and Westchester branches were permanently unmanned and thus did not collect ridership statistics.[70] Several stations closed on the "L" during 1948.[71] Exchange station on the Stock Yards branch discontinued gathering statistics for 1947, but its neighbor Racine began collecting them in 1948.[72]

References

  1. ^ a b Landmark Report, p. 10
  2. ^ Moffat 1995, p. 123
  3. ^ 1895 Review, p. 263
  4. ^ a b c d 1895 Review, p. 264
  5. ^ a b c d Moffat 1995, p. 130
  6. ^ a b "The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad". Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad. 1898. from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
  7. ^ a b CTA 1979, pp. 10–14
  8. ^ 1895 Review, p. 267
  9. ^ Moffat 1995, p. 124
  10. ^ Borzo 2007, p. 43
  11. ^ a b c d e "New "L" Road Opens". Chicago Tribune. Vol. 54, no. 127. May 7, 1895. p. 12. from the original on October 22, 2022. Retrieved October 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ a b c d e f Buck, Thomas (February 18, 1951). "1st Trains Run in New Subway Saturday Night". Chicago Tribune. Vol. 110, no. 7, Part 1. p. 21. from the original on October 17, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ CTA 1967, p. 10
  14. ^ "Historic Street Renamed for Damen After Hard Fight". Chicago Tribune. Vol. 88, no. 32. August 11, 1929. p. S-3. from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved October 23, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ a b c d e f Moffat 1995, p. 134
  16. ^ Moffat 1995, p. 139
  17. ^ Moffat 1995, p. 237
  18. ^ Moffat 1995, pp. 240–242
  19. ^ Moffat 1995, p. 261
  20. ^ Moffat 1995, p. 260
  21. ^ Chicago Transit Authority (October 1, 1947). "Today – they're all yours!". Chicago Tribune. Vol. 106, no. 235. p. 8. from the original on October 29, 2022. Retrieved October 29, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Borzo 2007, p. 92
  23. ^ CTA 1967, p. 9
  24. ^ "Opposition Grows". Berwyn Life. Vol. 20, no. 57. May 11, 1952. p. 6. from the original on January 28, 2023. Retrieved January 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Announces Congress Subway Plan System for Trains". Berwyn Life. Vol. 26, no. 70. Berwyn, Illinois. June 11, 1958. p. 5. from the original on October 17, 2022. Retrieved October 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "A colorful inspiration at the CTA". Chicago Tribune. Vol. 148, no. 209. September 25, 1992. p. 1-22. from the original on October 18, 2022. Retrieved October 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ CTA 1979, p. 16
  28. ^ "Train Rams Rear of 2d at Belmont". Chicago Tribune. Vol. 123, no. 33. February 2, 1970. p. 1. from the original on November 19, 2022. Retrieved November 19, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ Washburn, Gary (September 2, 1984). "It's been a long, bumpy trip, but O'Hare's train has come in". Chicago Tribune. Vol. 136, no. 240. pp. 2–3. from the original on November 19, 2022. Retrieved November 19, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Garfield, Graham. "Damen". Chicago-L.org. from the original on January 4, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
  31. ^ Landmark Report, pp. 10 & 52
  32. ^ "Milwaukee Avenue District". City of Chicago. from the original on January 5, 2023. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  33. ^ a b c Hauser, Alisa (September 23, 2014). . DNAinfo. Archived from the original on January 23, 2023. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  34. ^ Washburn, Gary (October 23, 1987). "CTA plans to revamp Dial-A-Ride program". Chicago Tribune. Vol. 141, no. 296. p. 2–3. from the original on February 3, 2023. Retrieved February 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. ^ a b c d Hauser, Alisa. . DNAInfo. Archived from the original on December 25, 2014. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
  36. ^ "When the unexpected happens but the deadline can't be moved". F. H. Paschen Contractors. 2017. from the original on February 3, 2023. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  37. ^ "Station, Track & Infrastructure Improvements". Chicago Transit Authority. from the original on January 23, 2023. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  38. ^ a b "Annual Ridership Report – Calendar Year 2021" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority, Ridership Analysis and Reporting. January 19, 2021. (PDF) from the original on August 11, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  39. ^ 1895 Review, p. 268
  40. ^ Hauser, Alisa (October 24, 2012). . DNAinfo. Archived from the original on January 23, 2023. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  41. ^ Hauser, Alisa (July 17, 2014). . DNAinfo. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  42. ^ a b "Damen (Blue Line Station)". Chicago Transit Authority. from the original on November 13, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  43. ^ "New art for CTA riders on Damen Avenue Blue Line". WGN. Nexstar Media. April 6, 2018. from the original on October 22, 2022. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  44. ^ "Blue Line Trains" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority. October 23, 2022. (PDF) from the original on October 25, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  45. ^ a b "Damen Station Timetable" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority. (PDF) from the original on November 13, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  46. ^ Moffat 1995, pp. 254–255
  47. ^ a b Moffat 1995, p. 255
  48. ^ "Fare information". Chicago Transit Authority. September 29, 2022. from the original on January 7, 2023. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  49. ^ CTA 1979, pp. 13&21
  50. ^ a b CTA 1979, pp. 15–17
  51. ^ a b c d e Annual Station Entries, 1989–2006 (Report). Chicago Transit Authority.
  52. ^ Moffat 1995, p. 115
  53. ^ Landmark Report, p. 3
  54. ^ Landmark Report, p. 12
  55. ^ Landmark Report, p. 13
  56. ^ a b Landmark Report, p. 15
  57. ^ Smith, Wes (August 8, 1985). "CTA riders' plea: Don't cut lifeline". Chicago Tribune. Vol. 139, no. 220. p. 1–17. from the original on February 3, 2023. Retrieved February 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  58. ^ Landmark Report, p. 8
  59. ^ Lind 1974, p. 284
  60. ^ a b c Lind 1974, p. 203
  61. ^ Lind 1974, p. 201
  62. ^ a b c Lind 1974, p. 289
  63. ^ "56 Milwaukee" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority. August 21, 2022. (PDF) from the original on January 5, 2023. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  64. ^ Lind 1974, p. 253
  65. ^ Lind 1974, pp. 253–254
  66. ^ "50 Damen" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority. August 21, 2022. (PDF) from the original on January 5, 2023. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  67. ^ "72 North" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority. August 21, 2022. (PDF) from the original on January 5, 2023. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  68. ^ CTA 1979, pp. 10–12
  69. ^ CTA 1979, p. 13
  70. ^ CTA 1979, pp. 22 & 38
  71. ^ Chicago Transit Authority (April 5, 1948). "New Lake Street All-Express "L" Service". Chicago Tribune. Vol. 107, no. 82. p. 7. from the original on February 13, 2022. Retrieved February 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  72. ^ a b CTA 1979, p. 14
  73. ^ CTA 1979, pp. 6, 14, 22, 30, & 38
  74. ^ CTA 1979, p. 17
  75. ^ CTA 1979, pp. 14–15
  76. ^ a b "Ridership Reports". Chicago Transit Authority. from the original on January 19, 2023. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  77. ^ "Annual Ridership Report – Calendar Year 2020" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority, Ridership Analysis and Reporting. January 19, 2021. (PDF) from the original on June 2, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  78. ^ CTA 1979, pp. 10–17
  79. ^ Moffat 1995, p. 131
  80. ^ Garfield, Graham. "Damen Tower". Chicago-L.org. from the original on August 20, 2022. Retrieved January 18, 2023.

Works cited

  • "The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad of Chicago". The Street Railway Review. 5: 263–274. January 15, 1895.
  • Borzo, Greg (2007). The Chicago "L". Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia. ISBN 9780738551005 – via Google Books.
  • Public Information Department (1967). Congress Rapid Transit. Chicago: Chicago Transit Authority – via Internet Archive.
  • CTA Rail Entrance, Annual Traffic, 1900–1979 (Report). Chicago: Chicago Transit Authority. October 1, 1979.
  • Commission on Chicago Landmarks (May 3, 2007). Milwaukee Avenue District (PDF) (Report). City of Chicago.
  • Lind, Alan R. (1974). Chicago Surface Lines: An Illustrated History. Park Forest, Illinois: Transport History Press.
  • Moffat, Bruce G. (1995). The "L": The Development of Chicago's Rapid Transit System, 1888–1932. Chicago: Central Electric Railfans' Association. ISBN 0-915348-30-6.

External links

damen, station, blue, line, other, chicago, stations, named, damen, damen, damen, elevated, rapid, transit, station, chicago, currently, serving, hare, branch, blue, line, opened, 1895, robey, oldest, station, blue, line, station, serves, popular, bucktown, wi. For other Chicago L stations named Damen see Damen Damen is an elevated rapid transit station on the Chicago L currently serving the O Hare branch of its Blue Line Opened on May 6 1895 as Robey it is the oldest station on the Blue Line The station serves the popular Bucktown and Wicker Park neighborhoods and is consistently in the top 40 highest ridership L stations It has two wooden side platforms and a brick station house at street level The west platform serving southbound trains contains a tower that has never been used but is a relic of the station s past Damen 2000W1600NChicago L rapid transit stationGeneral informationLocation1558 North Damen Avenue Chicago Illinois 60622Coordinates41 54 35 N 87 40 39 W 41 90972 N 87 67750 W 41 90972 87 67750 Coordinates 41 54 35 N 87 40 39 W 41 90972 N 87 67750 W 41 90972 87 67750Owned byChicago Transit Authority 1947 present Chicago Rapid Transit Company 1924 1947 See text before 1924Line s Blue LinePlatforms2 side platformsTracks2Connections 50 56 and 72 bus routesConstructionStructure typeElevatedBicycle facilitiesYesDisabled accessNoOther informationWebsitewww wbr transitchicago wbr com wbr station wbr damo wbr HistoryOpenedMay 6 1895Previous namesRobey before 1927 Passengers2021705 715 21 1 CTA Rank22 out of 145ServicesPreceding station Chicago L Following stationWesterntoward O Hare Blue Line Divisiontoward Forest ParkFormer servicesPreceding station Chicago L Following stationWesterntoward Logan Square Logan Square branch DivisionClosed 1951toward MarshfieldWesternClosed 1952toward Lawndale Humboldt Park branch TerminusTrack layoutLegendBlue Linenorthwest to O HareDamen Ave Damen towerNorth Ave Milwaukee Ave Blue Linesoutheast to Forest ParkLocationRobey was constructed by the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad to serve its Logan Square and Humboldt Park branches being the last stop on the Logan Square branch before the Humboldt Park branch diverged from it The Metropolitan s operations along with the rest of the L were assumed by the private Chicago Rapid Transit Company in 1924 and the public Chicago Transit Authority in 1947 The rail lines that had been constructed by the Metropolitan were significantly altered in the 1950s a process that entailed the closure of the Humboldt Park branch and the replacement of the Logan Square branch south of Damen with the Milwaukee Dearborn subway By 1958 this had created the West Northwest Route which was renamed the Blue Line in 1992 The Logan Square branch renamed the Milwaukee branch during this process was piecemeally extended to O Hare International Airport between 1970 and 1984 forming the modern O Hare branch Throughout these changes the Damen station itself remained remarkably well preserved being among other things one of the last stations on the system to retain its historic gooseneck lights The station is a contributing property to the Milwaukee Avenue District which is a Chicago landmark and was renovated for the 100th anniversary of its opening in 1995 After suffering a decline in the mid to late 20th century the station s popularity increased in the early 21st century leading to another renovation in 2014 Despite these renovations the station remains limited in its accessibility for disabled patrons due to its advanced age and the neighborhood s protected status It is served by three bus routes on Damen Milwaukee and North Avenues which are each descended from streetcar lines on those streets in the early 20th century The Blue Line has owl service while the surrounding streetcar lines also had owl service in the early 20th century the modern bus services do not Contents 1 History 1 1 Station renovations and rehabilitations 2 Station details 2 1 Infrastructure and facilities 2 2 Operations 2 3 Neighborhood and connections 2 4 Ridership 2 5 Damen Tower 3 Notes 4 References 5 Works cited 6 External linksHistory EditMain articles Logan Square branch and Humboldt Park branch Proposals for the construction of an elevated railway above Milwaukee Avenue dated to at least 1872 although opposition existed from the public due to the feared impact of property values 1 The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad Company was granted a 50 year franchise by the Chicago City Council on April 7 1892 2 and began securing right of way shortly thereafter 3 The Metropolitan s operations comprised a main line that went west from downtown to Marshfield where three branches one northwest to Logan Square one due west to Garfield Park and one southwest to Douglas Park diverged and served various parts of Chicago s west side 4 A further branch to Humboldt Park proceeded due west from the Logan Square branch just past Robey Street a 4 5 Unlike the competing South Side and Lake Street Elevateds the Metropolitan never used steam traction Although it had originally intended to and indeed had built much of its structure under the assumption that locomotives would be used 8 it decided in May 1894 to have electrified tracks instead 9 making it upon its opening the first revenue electric elevated railroad in the United States 10 The Metropolitan s tracks by the site of the future Robey station were finished by the middle of October 1894 and were powered on in April 1895 for test and inspection runs 5 Public opposition led to the local portion of the elevated being placed above an alley adjacent to Milwaukee Avenue rather than the avenue itself 1 The Metropolitan began service at 6 a m on Monday May 6 1895 between Robey on the Logan Square branch a and Canal on the main line 11 Of the eleven stations opened that day 11 Robey is the only one still surviving making it the oldest station on what is now the Blue Line b The Logan Square branch was extended to Logan Square on May 25 and the Humboldt Park branch opened on July 29 5 Robey Street on which the station lay and named for politician James Robey was renamed Damen Avenue in 1927 for Father Arnold Damen 14 The Metropolitan s lines were originally operated by the West Side Construction Company which had been responsible for constructing them and were transferred to the Metropolitan on October 6 1896 15 The backers and officers of the two companies were largely identical however so this transfer of ownership was nominal 4 15 The expenses incurred in constructing the Metropolitan s vast trackage would catch up to the company which entered receivership in 1897 the similarly named Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railway Company was organized in January 1899 and assumed operations on February 3 of that year 16 The new Metropolitan along with the other companies operating L lines in Chicago became a part of the Chicago Elevated Railways CER trust on July 1 1911 17 CER acted as a de facto holding company for the L unifying its operations instituting the same management across the companies and instituting free transfers between the lines starting in 1913 but kept the underlying companies intact 18 This continued until the companies were formally merged into the single Chicago Rapid Transit Company CRT in 1924 which assumed operations on January 9 the former Metropolitan was designated the Metropolitan division of the CRT for administrative purposes 19 Although municipal ownership of transit had been a hotly contested issue for half a century the publicly owned Chicago Transit Authority CTA would not be created until 1945 20 or assume operation of the L until October 1 1947 21 Damen s services before and after the 1950s The station is represented by a blue marker The Logan Square and Humboldt Park branches and Metropolitan main line prior to 1951 The Loop to which Damen connected prior to 1951 6 The modern day Blue Line the descendant of the post 1958 West Northwest Route 12 Other Metropolitan branches and the Wells Street Terminal are not depicted The CTA instituted major changes on the lines built by the Metropolitan that had been planned since the late 1930s 22 23 The Logan Square branch south of Damen was replaced by the Milwaukee Dearborn subway which opened on February 25 1951 12 With the subway s opening the CTA restricted the Humboldt Park branch to a shuttle service to and from Damen 12 and closed it altogether on May 5 1952 24 Combined with the replacement of the main line and Garfield Park branch with the Congress Line in 1958 this formed a new route called the West Northwest Route which entered service on June 22 1958 25 This route was renamed the Blue Line in 1992 26 Skip stop where certain A and B trains stopped at respective A and B stations was instituted with the 1951 opening of the subway Damen was deemed an all stop station and was thus unaffected by this introduction 12 The Logan Square branch referred to by the CTA as the Milwaukee branch after the completion of the West Northwest Route 27 was extended past Logan Square to Jefferson Park on February 1 1970 28 Further extensions were made to River Road in 1983 and finally O Hare International Airport on September 3 1984 forming the modern O Hare branch 29 The Damen station remained remarkably well preserved throughout the 20th century and the early 21st Prominent in this were the station s historic gooseneck lights alongside Wilson it was one of the last stations on the L to retain such lights 30 Having been credited with spurring development of the surrounding neighborhood upon its construction the station was included as a contributing property to the Milwaukee Avenue District 31 which was designated a Chicago landmark on April 9 2008 32 The station was not itself made a landmark nevertheless the CTA has presented the landmarked status of its surroundings and the station s general historic fabric as part of the excessive difficulty in making the station accessible for disabled people 33 Station renovations and rehabilitations Edit California s station house in 2011 Damen s station house was of a similar design until 1995 Damen station house in 2022 Damen s platforms were extended to accommodate eight car trains in the early 1930s around the same time as the rest of the Metropolitan Division s stations These platform extensions were complete in 1931 A further extension of the northbound platform was built by the CTA in 1951 alongside an auxiliary exit onto North Avenue Sometime before 1946 the southern viewer s left facade window of the station house was replaced with a doorway containing two doors these doors which were likely added as a result of the station s high ridership were disused and locked by 1970 Damen Tower was rebuilt in 1950 but various factors rendered the new tower superfluous upon its construction and it was never equipped for use in switching Around the same time a crosswalk connecting the main platforms with a new single platform south of the Humboldt Park tracks was constructed for Humboldt Park riders going through the new tower and would be used until the Humboldt Park branch s 1952 closure 30 By 1985 Damen and its adjacent stations were singled out for being among the L stations in the worst repair 34 Damen was renovated for its 100th anniversary in 1995 The terra cotta elements of the station house s bay were removed and replaced with a more rustic appearance In addition the station house s interior was significantly overhauled receiving new woodwork having its fare control and agent s booth rearranged and being furnished with pictures of the station s history Much of the station s platform railings were replaced with simpler tubing in 1998 and the platforms metalwork was restored and refurbished in late 2003 In 2011 most of the station s historic gooseneck lights were replaced by modern shoebox design light fixtures although these fixtures were in turn replaced by reproductions of the original in May 2012 30 On December 22 2014 the Damen station reopened after having been closed since October 20 for renovations part of the CTA s 492 million Your New Blue project Damen alone took 13 6 million to renovate and combined with renovations to California and Western stations totaled 25 6 million The renovation entailed increasing room in the station house s interior and refurbishing it augmenting cycling facilities and replacing the roof Signage was also updated a wider turnstile was installed for strollers and luggage the platforms and stairs were replaced and modern gooseneck lights were used to replicate the originals The reopening was celebrated by local restaurants and establishments offering discounts to commuters and the station was remarked by alderman Joe Moreno as a vital link for Chicago to the Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhood benefit ing from a modernized station 35 The renovation was contracted out to F H Paschen under the guidance of Matt Moss much of the load bearing masonry was found to be unusable and had to be replaced but the work was still carried out on schedule 36 Also included in the renovations were the restoration of the southern facade window and the installation of blue tactile paving on the platforms edges 37 Concerns were raised for the accessibility of the station no elevator access was added to the station despite its being the fourth busiest station on the O Hare branch 35 Locals expressed disappointment in the lack of accessibility although wheelchair bound persons were the most affected the most common requests for an elevator came from tourists with large luggage The CTA defended the lack of accessibility as a byproduct of the station s heritage and resultant difficulty of adding accessibility features and offered the possibility of such improvements in the future 33 Station details EditInfrastructure and facilities Edit Damen has two wooden side platforms at track level and a station house at street level The station house made of red pressed brick and white limestone trim with a stone sill and foundation was designed similarly to other stations on the Logan Square branch with a corniced and dentiled front bay containing dual doors specifically marked Entrance and Exit and prolific use of terra cotta The bay originally functioned as an antechamber with doors on the interior into the station house as well as the exterior but the interior doors were removed between 1960 and 1985 30 Unlike elsewhere on the L station houses on the Metropolitan had central heating and a basement 15 The station house is the only entrance to the station 38 but an auxiliary exit exists on the northbound platform going down onto North Avenue 30 The platforms have hipped roof tin canopies in the center and decorative cast iron railings with diamond designs 39 Platform extensions were built at various points throughout the 20th century these extensions have simpler railings than the older parts of the platforms 30 The Metropolitan s tracks and stations were constructed by the West Side Construction Company a company with the same officers as the Metropolitan and the chief engineer of E W Elliot with steel and iron from the Carnegie Steel Company 15 4 The station house originally had a built in newsstand but by 1960 this was used for storage A new concession area was installed by the 1980s 30 This stand 80 sq ft 7 4 m2 in area had its tenant forced out in November 2012 as the CTA transitioned from month to month leasing to longer term contracts 40 The stand remained vacant afterwards a new tenant was secured in 2014 and would have opened in the summer of that year but the CTA canceled such plans and decided to instead use the space to increase capacity for passengers in the renovation 41 The Metropolitan installed bicycle storage racks at its stations 15 Bicycle racks were added to the station s stairwell mezzanine in 2008 30 and were increased in the 2014 renovation 35 The 2014 renovation also added wider turnstiles for luggage and strollers but did not include any accessibility improvements for riders with disabilities 35 as of 2022 update the station remains ADA inaccessible 42 In 2018 an LED display named Soundtrack was installed on the bottom of the L tracks above Damen Avenue comprising several panels that change color based on vibrations from passing trains and moving cars 43 Operations Edit Damen s historic gooseneck lights in 2002 Damen was one of the last stations on the Chicago L to retain such lights As originally opened the Metropolitan s trains ran every six minutes between 6 a m and 6 30 p m and every ten minutes during the night The average speed was 16 mph 26 km h and trains took 22 minutes to go from Robey to Canal 11 The 1951 opening of the Dearborn subway was projected to take 13 minutes off the travel time between Logan Square and downtown 12 as of 2022 update trains take 14 15 minutes between Logan Square and Clark Lake station downtown 44 As of 2022 update trains run at intervals ranging from 3 to 10 minutes during weekday rush hours from Damen 45 The Blue Line has owl service which serves Damen from 12 10 to 5 10 a m on weekdays and similar hours on weekends during that time trains have intervals ranging from 10 to 30 minutes depending on the time of night 45 The fare across the L was legally mandated to be a nickel 5 cents 1 37 in 2021 in the late 19th and early 20th centuries The nickel fare continued until temporarily increased by a cent to 6 cents in 1917 1 27 in 2021 before stabilizing to a dime in 1920 10 cents 1 35 in 2021 46 Starting in 1922 fares were usually marketed in packs of three rides for 25 cents or 8 1 3 cents per ride 1 35 per ride in 2021 but individual fares remained 10 cents each 47 At the same time a weekly pass was introduced the first in a major American city for 1 25 20 24 in 2021 for rides outside of Evanston and Wilmette 47 As of 2022 update the full fare for the L is 2 25 with a reduced fare of 1 25 and a student fare of 75 cents passes are available including a 7 day pass worth 20 and a 30 day pass worth 75 48 Unlike other elevated railroads at the time the Metropolitan did not sell tickets for passengers to present to staff instead customers gave their nickel to the station agent to record in a registry a practice similar to streetcars at the time This practice was ultimately adopted by the other elevateds 15 As late as 1960 there was no fare control at the station besides the station agent 30 Originally station agents were on duty 24 hours a day conductors were used on the Logan Square Humboldt Park and Northwest branches to instead collect fares on trains during night and off peak hours from 1931 through 1937 except for the Northwest branch in 1935 49 They returned to the Milwaukee branch in 1950 and continued in use until 1995 50 51 Turnstiles were added to the station by 1985 30 Unlike the competing Lake Street Elevated which provided smoking and non smoking cars all of the Metropolitan s cars originally allowed smoking 11 Smoking was banned by the city across L facilities and in streetcars in response to a 1918 influenza outbreak a prohibition that has remained in force ever since 52 Neighborhood and connections Edit Milwaukee Avenue had been a bustling commercial district in the area since the 1870s underpinning a community of German and Scandinavian immigrants The construction of the L in the area and Robey station in particular has been said to have divided the first and second phases of development on the street the first phase dating from the 1871 Great Chicago Fire and the second continuing until the Wall Street Crash of 1929 The second phase of development spurred on by the L allowed for businesses to diversify and specialize such that the district was considered a city within the city 53 Poles replaced Germans and Scandinavians starting in the 1890s and Jews began to settle in the first decades of the 20th century At the same time middle class skilled tradesmen gave way to a more working class neighborhood Nevertheless property values on Milwaukee Avenue continued rising doubling between 1911 and 1912 54 Banks and office buildings came in the interwar period such as the 12 story Northwest Tower in 1928 55 Action was taken to ensure cleanliness and modernity of the district in 1927 which included streetlight improvements the ban of sidewalk peddling and the standardization of signage The Great Depression and World War II interrupted the flow of immigrants to the area causing it to decline 56 By 1985 the O Hare branch around Damen and Western was considered one of the most dangerous on the entire L system 57 Revitalization started in the 1990s and Milwaukee Avenue is once again a busy shopping area 56 As of 2022 update Damen station is served by the 50 Damen bus the 56 Milwaukee bus and the 72 North bus each of which is a descendant of streetcar lines that ran starting in the late 19th and early 20th centuries 42 Horse cars which had operated on Milwaukee Avenue intermittently since the 1850s and consistently since 1874 were upgraded to cable cars in 1890 58 These were in turn replaced by streetcars on August 19 1906 Streetcars were typically one car each in Chicago two car multiple unit control trains ran on Milwaukee between March 2 1925 and May 5 1929 59 As of 1928 the line had owl service between 1 05 and 5 35 a m wherein cars ran either every 15 minutes or every 30 minutes depending on destination 60 during the day streetcars in Chicago typically had intervals of eight to fifteen minutes 61 Buses replaced streetcars on weekends on October 28 1951 and altogether on May 11 1952 62 As of 2022 update the 56 Milwaukee bus operates between 4 20 a m and 11 37 p m on weekdays and similar hours during the weekends and holidays with intervals ranging from 6 to 25 minutes 63 Robey Street had a streetcar line in the station s vicinity by 1910 64 By 1928 this route had owl service between 1 45 and 4 40 a m with a car running every 35 minutes in those hours 60 Buses replaced streetcars in the area on weekends starting December 12 1948 and assumed the route at all times on May 13 1951 65 As of 2022 update the 50 Damen bus runs between 4 30 a m and 12 14 a m on weekdays and 5 a m and just after midnight during the weekends and holidays at 12 to 30 minute headways 66 North Avenue had a local streetcar route running in the area by June 26 1911 when a downtown service was begun via North and Milwaukee The downtown service was discontinued on August 14 1912 62 As of 1928 the North Avenue streetcar had owl service between 1 30 and 4 38 a m running a streetcar every 30 minutes 60 Streetcars were replaced by trolleybuses on December 4 1949 which were in turn supplanted by conventional buses on February 1 1953 62 As of 2022 update the 72 North bus runs between 3 26 a m and 2 05 a m on weekdays and around 3 30 a m and 2 a m during the weekends and holidays with its intervals ranging from 7 to 21 minutes 67 Ridership Edit On opening day 1 250 passengers had used Robey station by 3 p m and it was expected to accommodate around 10 000 patrons before the day closed 11 Between 1900 and 1945 Damen was the highest ridership station on the Northwest branch a every year but starting in 1904 consistently lagged the original Logan Square terminal on the Logan Square branch and in the 1940s struggled with California on the branch as well 7 Ridership peaked in this era at 1 465 162 passengers in 1907 although it served more than a million passengers every year from 1901 through 1927 except for 1922 68 Ridership started to plummet shortly thereafter during the Great Depression bottoming out at 350 476 riders in 1933 69 Its global performance on the L was lackluster during the late 1940s in 1947 it was the 109th busiest of the 222 L stations that were at least partially manned whereas in 1948 it was the 96th busiest of 223 such stations at the beginning of the year c 73 In 1946 and 1947 Damen was surpassed by Chicago on the Northwest branch but regained the top spot in 1948 72 This proved to be short lived however although it briefly regained a million passengers in 1950 for the first time since 1927 after the subway was built it consistently had lower ridership than Division from 1953 through 2003 with a steadily declining patronage that reached a new low of 329 367 riders in 1975 50 51 Nevertheless in 1978 it still had the fifth highest ridership on the Milwaukee branch 74 Ridership data is not available for 1949 or 1952 75 By 1979 the station served 780 908 passengers Ridership steadily increased through the 1980s and 1990s before once again reaching a million in 1997 51 Ridership consistently exceeded a million every year thereafter in 2006 a new all time peak of 1 517 323 passengers was set 51 After further growth and a sustained annual ridership of a million or more two million riders were recorded in 2012 Except for 2014 in which the station was closed for renovations for several months ridership continued to surpass two million every year through 2019 peaking at 2 233 065 riders in 2015 76 As of 2014 the station was the fourth busiest on the O Hare branch behind O Hare Jefferson Park and Logan Square 33 In 2019 the Damen station had a total ridership of 2 023 150 making it the 26th most ridden of the L s 145 stations this declined by 71 2 percent to 582 967 in 2020 due to the COVID 19 pandemic which also reduced its ranking to the 33rd most ridden station 77 Ridership rebounded somewhat in 2021 update increasing by 21 1 percent to 705 715 and rebounding its rank to the 22nd most ridden station 38 Damen station ridership from 1900 through 2021 except for 1949 and 1952 51 76 78 Damen Tower Edit Damen Tower in 2022 A tower has existed at Damen station since its opening in 1895 The original tower was used for switching trains between Humboldt Park and Logan Square Electric trains in the late 19th century entailed one powered motor car pulling multiple unpowered trailers Humboldt Park trains were an exception their motor cars pushed their trailers to Robey where they would be coupled to Logan Square motor cars for the trip downtown This was done outside of rush hours when Humboldt Park trains ran through to downtown directly and night periods when they contained only one car Multiple unit control was adopted by the Metropolitan between 1904 and 1905 and ended this particular practice but combining Humboldt Park and Logan Square trains at Damen continued until 1950 79 The current tower built in 1950 has never been used It was originally intended to switch trains between Logan Square and Humboldt Park like its predecessor as well as switch trains between the Milwaukee Dearborn subway and Logan Square elevated the subway was intended to supplement the elevated similar to how the State Street subway supplements the older elevated North Side main line However when the CTA assumed control it decided to discontinue Humboldt Park service and the old Logan Square elevated rendering the tower superfluous Despite this the tower was still built on the west side of the tracks on the northern end of the southbound platform In acknowledgment of its uselessness it was never equipped with a tower panel or any other switching equipment After the new tower was built the original tower continued to be used for switching trains between the branches until Humboldt Park service was discontinued and the interlocking removed in 1954 being demolished sometime in the late 1950s 80 Notes Edit a b c Technically the Logan Square branch started after Robey and was like the Humboldt Park branch a divergence from what was formally known as the Northwest branch 5 However as early as 1898 even the Metropolitan itself was referring to the Northwest branch as part of the Logan Square branch 6 although ridership statistics continued to separate them 7 Division through Madison closed in 1951 with the opening of the subway 12 and the remaining stations on the main line were replaced by the Congress Line 13 Several stations on the Niles Center and Westchester branches were permanently unmanned and thus did not collect ridership statistics 70 Several stations closed on the L during 1948 71 Exchange station on the Stock Yards branch discontinued gathering statistics for 1947 but its neighbor Racine began collecting them in 1948 72 References Edit a b Landmark Report p 10 Moffat 1995 p 123 1895 Review p 263 a b c d 1895 Review p 264 a b c d Moffat 1995 p 130 a b The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad 1898 Archived from the original on October 23 2022 Retrieved October 23 2022 a b CTA 1979 pp 10 14 1895 Review p 267 Moffat 1995 p 124 Borzo 2007 p 43 a b c d e New L Road Opens Chicago Tribune Vol 54 no 127 May 7 1895 p 12 Archived from the original on October 22 2022 Retrieved October 22 2022 via Newspapers com a b c d e f Buck Thomas February 18 1951 1st Trains Run in New Subway Saturday Night Chicago Tribune Vol 110 no 7 Part 1 p 21 Archived from the original on October 17 2022 Retrieved October 24 2022 via Newspapers com CTA 1967 p 10 Historic Street Renamed for Damen After Hard Fight Chicago Tribune Vol 88 no 32 August 11 1929 p S 3 Archived from the original on October 23 2022 Retrieved October 23 2022 via Newspapers com a b c d e f Moffat 1995 p 134 Moffat 1995 p 139 Moffat 1995 p 237 Moffat 1995 pp 240 242 Moffat 1995 p 261 Moffat 1995 p 260 Chicago Transit Authority October 1 1947 Today they re all yours Chicago Tribune Vol 106 no 235 p 8 Archived from the original on October 29 2022 Retrieved October 29 2022 via Newspapers com Borzo 2007 p 92 CTA 1967 p 9 Opposition Grows Berwyn Life Vol 20 no 57 May 11 1952 p 6 Archived from the original on January 28 2023 Retrieved January 28 2023 via Newspapers com Announces Congress Subway Plan System for Trains Berwyn Life Vol 26 no 70 Berwyn Illinois June 11 1958 p 5 Archived from the original on October 17 2022 Retrieved October 25 2022 via Newspapers com A colorful inspiration at the CTA Chicago Tribune Vol 148 no 209 September 25 1992 p 1 22 Archived from the original on October 18 2022 Retrieved October 25 2022 via Newspapers com CTA 1979 p 16 Train Rams Rear of 2d at Belmont Chicago Tribune Vol 123 no 33 February 2 1970 p 1 Archived from the original on November 19 2022 Retrieved November 19 2022 via Newspapers com Washburn Gary September 2 1984 It s been a long bumpy trip but O Hare s train has come in Chicago Tribune Vol 136 no 240 pp 2 3 Archived from the original on November 19 2022 Retrieved November 19 2022 via Newspapers com a b c d e f g h i j Garfield Graham Damen Chicago L org Archived from the original on January 4 2023 Retrieved January 4 2023 Landmark Report pp 10 amp 52 Milwaukee Avenue District City of Chicago Archived from the original on January 5 2023 Retrieved January 5 2023 a b c Hauser Alisa September 23 2014 Damen Blue Line Station Overhaul Won t Help Wicker Park Wheelchair Users DNAinfo Archived from the original on January 23 2023 Retrieved January 23 2023 Washburn Gary October 23 1987 CTA plans to revamp Dial A Ride program Chicago Tribune Vol 141 no 296 p 2 3 Archived from the original on February 3 2023 Retrieved February 3 2023 via Newspapers com a b c d Hauser Alisa CTA Damen L Station Reopens It s Beautiful Uber using Commuter Says DNAInfo Archived from the original on December 25 2014 Retrieved December 25 2014 When the unexpected happens but the deadline can t be moved F H Paschen Contractors 2017 Archived from the original on February 3 2023 Retrieved February 3 2023 Station Track amp Infrastructure Improvements Chicago Transit Authority Archived from the original on January 23 2023 Retrieved January 23 2023 a b Annual Ridership Report Calendar Year 2021 PDF Chicago Transit Authority Ridership Analysis and Reporting January 19 2021 Archived PDF from the original on August 11 2022 Retrieved November 13 2022 1895 Review p 268 Hauser Alisa October 24 2012 CTA Railroads Small Vendors Out of L Stations DNAinfo Archived from the original on January 23 2023 Retrieved January 23 2023 Hauser Alisa July 17 2014 CTA Blue Line Renovations Nix Coffee Shops in Wicker Park Logan Stations DNAinfo Archived from the original on January 21 2021 Retrieved January 23 2023 a b Damen Blue Line Station Chicago Transit Authority Archived from the original on November 13 2022 Retrieved November 13 2022 New art for CTA riders on Damen Avenue Blue Line WGN Nexstar Media April 6 2018 Archived from the original on October 22 2022 Retrieved October 22 2022 Blue Line Trains PDF Chicago Transit Authority October 23 2022 Archived PDF from the original on October 25 2018 Retrieved November 13 2022 a b Damen Station Timetable PDF Chicago Transit Authority Archived PDF from the original on November 13 2022 Retrieved November 13 2022 Moffat 1995 pp 254 255 a b Moffat 1995 p 255 Fare information Chicago Transit Authority September 29 2022 Archived from the original on January 7 2023 Retrieved January 7 2023 CTA 1979 pp 13 amp 21 a b CTA 1979 pp 15 17 a b c d e Annual Station Entries 1989 2006 Report Chicago Transit Authority Moffat 1995 p 115 Landmark Report p 3 Landmark Report p 12 Landmark Report p 13 a b Landmark Report p 15 Smith Wes August 8 1985 CTA riders plea Don t cut lifeline Chicago Tribune Vol 139 no 220 p 1 17 Archived from the original on February 3 2023 Retrieved February 3 2023 via Newspapers com Landmark Report p 8 Lind 1974 p 284 a b c Lind 1974 p 203 Lind 1974 p 201 a b c Lind 1974 p 289 56 Milwaukee PDF Chicago Transit Authority August 21 2022 Archived PDF from the original on January 5 2023 Retrieved January 5 2023 Lind 1974 p 253 Lind 1974 pp 253 254 50 Damen PDF Chicago Transit Authority August 21 2022 Archived PDF from the original on January 5 2023 Retrieved January 5 2023 72 North PDF Chicago Transit Authority August 21 2022 Archived PDF from the original on January 5 2023 Retrieved January 5 2023 CTA 1979 pp 10 12 CTA 1979 p 13 CTA 1979 pp 22 amp 38 Chicago Transit Authority April 5 1948 New Lake Street All Express L Service Chicago Tribune Vol 107 no 82 p 7 Archived from the original on February 13 2022 Retrieved February 13 2022 via Newspapers com a b CTA 1979 p 14 CTA 1979 pp 6 14 22 30 amp 38 CTA 1979 p 17 CTA 1979 pp 14 15 a b Ridership Reports Chicago Transit Authority Archived from the original on January 19 2023 Retrieved January 19 2023 Annual Ridership Report Calendar Year 2020 PDF Chicago Transit Authority Ridership Analysis and Reporting January 19 2021 Archived PDF from the original on June 2 2021 Retrieved May 31 2021 CTA 1979 pp 10 17 Moffat 1995 p 131 Garfield Graham Damen Tower Chicago L org Archived from the original on August 20 2022 Retrieved January 18 2023 Works cited Edit The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad of Chicago The Street Railway Review 5 263 274 January 15 1895 Borzo Greg 2007 The Chicago L Charleston South Carolina Arcadia ISBN 9780738551005 via Google Books Public Information Department 1967 Congress Rapid Transit Chicago Chicago Transit Authority via Internet Archive CTA Rail Entrance Annual Traffic 1900 1979 Report Chicago Chicago Transit Authority October 1 1979 Commission on Chicago Landmarks May 3 2007 Milwaukee Avenue District PDF Report City of Chicago Lind Alan R 1974 Chicago Surface Lines An Illustrated History Park Forest Illinois Transport History Press Moffat Bruce G 1995 The L The Development of Chicago s Rapid Transit System 1888 1932 Chicago Central Electric Railfans Association ISBN 0 915348 30 6 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Damen CTA Blue Line Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Damen station CTA Blue Line amp oldid 1139450592, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.