Oak Park station (CTA Douglas branch)

OAK PARK
 
6800W
2200S
Former Chicago 'L' rapid transit station
The location of the station, in between the small brick building behind the Burger King and the larger brick building behind it, in 2023
General information
LocationBerwyn, Illinois
Coordinates41°51′04″N 87°47′36″W / 41.8512°N 87.7933°W / 41.8512; -87.7933
Owned byChicago Transit Authority (1947–1952)
Chicago Rapid Transit Company (1924–1947)
Line(s)Douglas branch
Platforms1 island platform
Tracks2
Construction
Structure typeElevated
History
OpenedMarch 16, 1924
ClosedFebruary 3, 1952
Former services
Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station
Terminus Douglas branch Ridgeland
toward Marshfield
Location
Map

Oak Park was a rapid transit station on the Chicago "L", where it was the westernmost extension of the Douglas Park branch in the suburb of Berwyn, from 1924 to 1952. Although the branch had originally been constructed starting from 1896 by the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad Company, it did not reach Oak Park until March 16, 1924, by which time the Metropolitan had been subsumed by the Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT). Plans to extend the branch as far west as Harlem Avenue were made by the Metropolitan but were never done as development never justified it.

The terminal building itself was a simple clapboard frame structure with a peaked roof on an island platform, with the tracks on either side ending abruptly.[1]

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) assumed operations of the "L" in 1947, and sought to streamline. In mid-1951, it proposed trimming the Douglas branch and instituting skip-stop on December 9 in concert with other reforms such as the discontinuation of the Westchester branch. Berwyn and adjacent Cicero sued the CTA and got an injunction to stop the branch reduction, but the matter was resolved in the CTA's favor and the branch was cut back to 54th/Cermak on February 3, 1952.[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Garfield, Graham. "Oak Park". Chicago-L.org. Retrieved August 25, 2023.