Crawford - East Prairie (4000W/7800N)
Mulford Street, between Crawford Avenue and East Prairie Road, Village of Skokie

Service Notes:

North Side Division, Skokie branch

Quick Facts:

Address: TBD
Established: March 28, 1925
Original Line: North Side Division, Niles Center branch
Previous Names: none
Skip-Stop Type: n/a
Rebuilt: n/a
Status: Demolished

A view of the northbound side of the station platform, looking west, circa 1960. The architecture of the small station and especially the support columns resemble the Dempster station. For a larger view, click here. (Photo from North Shore Line, from Sunday River Productions) History: This was one of two stations in Niles Center (later Skokie) on the east-west leg of the Skokie branch of the North Side Division of the Chicago Rapid Transit. When it was built in 1925, the land around it was vacant, farmland at best. In fact, there was no Crawford Avenue yet, only in real estate plans. The station itself was small, as was the platform, and set between the tracks. The building's architecture resembles a miniature version of the Dempster station further down the line, especially in the treatment of the brickwork and the shape of the support columns, indicating that this station was either also designed by Arthur U. Gerber or someone took Gerber's designs and adapted them for use here. Though only the CRT stopped at this station, this is where the North Shore Line trains switched from third rail operations to overhead trolley wire, often without slowing down. By 1948, when the station closed, the area had boomed with residential construction, like much of Skokie, thanks to postwar baby boomers. However, the station wasn't torn down until 1964, when the CTA reconstructed the line into the Skokie Swift, a shuttle service necessitating the removal of all intermediate stations. The platform's concrete supports, as well as part of the platform now used for storage, are still visible at the site.

There was no shortage of open space in Niles Center in 1925. This walkway connected the Crawford-East Prairie station with a nonexistent Crawford Avenue. The Kostner station can be seen in the distance. For a larger view, click here. (Photo from the Bruce G. Moffat Collection)

crawford04.jpg (221k) The former location of Crawford station as it appears today, looking west in December 2002. A small portion of the island platform remains, housing a communications hut, though not enough to fully berth a car. The sidewalks from both Crawford and East Prairie to the former locations of the stairs to the entrances are also still extant. (Photo by Graham Garfield)