Asbury (1300W/200N)
Asbury Street and Brummel Street, City of Evanston

Service Notes:

North Side Division, Niles Center branch

Quick Facts:

Address: TBD
Established: March 28, 1925
Original Line: n/a
Previous Names: none
Skip-Stop Type: n/a
Rebuilt: n/a
Status: Demolished

History: Left: A view of the platforms at Asbury. These short platforms could only hold, at most, two CRT cars. The stairs from the station house are in enclosures at the background of the platforms. The circular bend of the ends of the platform railings is typical on the "L", seen at many stations, like Morse for instance. For a larger view, click here. (Photo from North Shore Line, from Sunday River Productions) Right: The former location of Asbury station as it appears today, looking west in December 2002. A small portion of the outbound platform remains, housing a communications hut, though not enough to fully berth a car. For a larger view, click here. (Photo by Graham Garfield) When the line that is now the Skokie Swift first operated as the Niles Center branch of the Northwestern Elevated (1926-1948), there were a number of stops between the two terminals. This was one of three stations in Evanston (the others were Ridge and Dodge) on the east-west leg of the Niles Center branch. Asbury station's entrance was located on the bridge over the tracks. Designed by Arthur U. Gerber, the station had an interesting mix of styles. The front and side elevations, visible from the street, resembled similar stations Gerber designed at Sheridan, South Boulevard, and Central among others, combining elements of Doric and Beaux Arts designs, executed in Terra Cotta. Trademark Gerber details included the laurel-framed cartouches, pair of Greek Revival Doric columns framing the entrance, globed lights and the words "Rapid Transit" above the front door in Terra Cotta. The interior was executed in smooth art marble with a spacious fare control area. On the street elevation, two retail spaces were provided on either side of the entrance. Inside, these flanked a corridor that led to the fare controls, which were located at the back of the building. The rear elevation of the building, however, was a distinctively different style. Encompassing elements such as a stucco exterior, arched windows, and tile roofs over the stairs and platforms, the design of the rear elevation is largely influenced by the Mediterranean style. This Spanish-influenced style makes sense, as the stations of the North Shore Line interurban (which shared the tracks with the "L" between Dempster and Howard) on the Skokie Valley Line between Dempster and South Upton used this style. Thus, Gerber designed the Asbury station such that from the street it resembled the typical stations he was designing for the rapid transit system at that time, but from track level it resembled the other stations on the North Shore Line, whose trains passed (but did not stop or service) the station. The station had short, dual side platforms which could accommodate no more than two or three "L" cars at a time. The east end of the platforms were covered by the street viaduct, while the west end were protected by the depot building overhead and hipped roofs that projected from the underside of the building. Stairs lead from the station house's rear to the west end of the short platforms. In March 1948, the CTA® abandoned service over the Niles Center Line as hopelessly unprofitable and ceased operations over the branch, closing the station. When the North Shore Line abandoned their Skokie Valley Route in 1963, Asbury's demolition wasn't included in the budget of the Skokie Swift's construction (though Main, Oakton, Kostner and East Prairie were), and the station survived until the mid- to late-1970s, housing a convenience/grocery store. By the mid-1980s, the station building was completely gone and the bridge largely rebuilt. In 1969, consultants Pratt and Bevis of Washington D.C. were hired to investigate the extension of the Skokie Swift to Lake Cook Road (as is now proposed in a low-priority recommendation from CATS). As part of this, the reinstitution of a stop at Asbury was considered (along with a new station at Hamlin in Skokie), though none of these things ever came to pass. Today, a small portion of one the platforms remains under the viaduct. The east end of the north (westbound) platform remains, housing communications huts. In 2005-06, the Asbury bridge was rebuilt and although this removed more small remnants of the old station, the small stretch of the outbound platform still remains.

The Asbury station, circa 1960. The relatively small station house was located on the bridge over the tracks, a practice somewhat unusual when the station built in 1925, but commonplace today in many places like the Forest Park, O'Hare and Dan Ryan Lines. It was abandoned at the time of this photograph, taken from a moving North Shore Line train. (Photo from North Shore Line, from Sunday River Productions)

asbury05.jpg (273k) In 2005-06, the Asbury bridge was rebuilt. Although this removed more small remnants of the old station, this view looking west on April 12, 2006 shows that a small stretch of the outbound platform will still remain to support the communications huts under the viaduct. (Photo by William Davidson)

Thanks to J.J. Sedelmaier for the information on the stations post-1948 status.