Marshfield station

MARSHFIELD   1700W 400S
Former Chicago "L" station
A pre-WWI view looking east at the station. The AE&C's platform is in the foreground.
General information
Location	416 South Marshfield Avenue[a] Chicago, Illinois
Coordinates	41°52′33″N 87°40′5″W / 41.87583°N 87.66806°W / 41.87583; -87.66806
Owned by	Chicago Transit Authority (1947–1954) Chicago Rapid Transit Company (1924–1947) See text before 1924
Line(s)	Metropolitan main line Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad main line
Platforms	2 island platforms and 1 side platform
Tracks	4 tracks diverging to 6
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
Bicycle facilities	Yes
History
Opened	May 6, 1895
Closed	April 4, 1954
Key dates
March 11, 1905	AE&C (later CA&E) service introduced
February 25, 1951	Logan Square and Humboldt Park service discontinued
September 20 and 27, 1953	Garfield Park and CA&E service discontinued
Passengers
1953	688,413  3.48% (CTA)
Rank	68 out of 137
Former services
Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station Terminus Metropolitan main line Laflin Closed 1951[b] toward Loop (LaSalle/Van Buren) or Wells Street Terminal Madison Closed 1951 toward Logan Square Logan Square branch Terminus Ogden Closed 1953 toward Des Plaines Garfield Park branch Polk toward Oak Park Douglas branch Preceding station Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad Following station Kedzie Avenue toward Wheaton Main Line Canal Street One-way operation
Track layout Legend Garfield Park branch and CA&E   Douglas Park branch Humboldt Park & Logan Square branches   Metropolitan main line
Location

Marshfield was a rapid transit station on the Chicago "L" in service between 1895 and 1954. Constructed by the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad, it was the westernmost station of the Metropolitan's main line, which then diverged into three branches. Marshfield was also served by the Aurora Elgin and Chicago Railway (AE&C) and its descendant the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad (CA&E), an interurban, between 1905 and 1953.

The Metropolitan, one of four companies operating the "L", handed its lines over to the Chicago Elevated Railways (CER) trust in 1911. The companies forming the trust formally merged into the Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT) in 1924, which continued operation of the "L" until it was taken over by the publicly-held Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) in 1947. The CA&E had resulted from splitting of the AE&C in 1921.

In the 1950s, overhauls to the Metropolitan's lines, planned since the 1930s, replaced the Logan Square branch with a subway to go directly downtown and substitute a rapid transit right-of-way in the median of the Eisenhower for the main line and Garfield Park branch. Construction of these new lines was piecemeal, as was the end of service to Marshfield; Logan Square trains were diverted in 1951, as was Garfield Park and CA&E service in 1953. This left Douglas Park trains as the sole traffic at Marshfield until April 1954, when they too used a temporary right-of-way to go downtown. The Congress Line opened in 1958; the junction that Marshfield had served was maintained between the new line and the Douglas Park branch, but the station prior to this divergence was located on Racine Avenue, significantly to the east of Marshfield Avenue. An entrance to the Medical Center station on the new line was located on Paulina Street, a block west of Marshfield Avenue.

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