The new Davis station, completed in 1994, with its distinctive clock towers (an identical one is on the west side as well) and European stylings (see bottom photo), looking south on Benson Avenue in June 2001. A Pace bus is loading and unloading passengers at the intermodal facility. For a larger view, click here. (Photo by Graham Garfield)

Davis (1600N/800W)
Davis Street and Benson Avenue, City of Evanston

Service Notes:

Purple Line: Evanston

Accessible Station

Transfer to Metra: Union Pacific--North Line

Quick Facts:

Address: 1612 Benson Avenue
Established: May 16, 1908
Original Line: Northwestern Elevated Railroad, Evanston branch
Previous Names: none
Skip-Stop Type: All Stop
Rebuilt: 1909, 1978-79, 1994
Status: In Use

History:

Car 27, repainted for the country's bicentennial celebration and dubbed the "William Dawes", stops at the "new" Davis on the evening of November 4, 1975 with only the platform lights to illuminate the photograph. For a larger view, click here. (Photo from the Chicago Transit Authority Collection)
"L" service first entered Evanston by way of an agreement to use the tracks of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway on May 16, 1908, replacing the steam service that the St. Paul had previously provided. The "L" used the steam railroad's original station until 1909, when it was demolished during the elevation of the tracks (as per the 1907 franchise agreement from the City of Evanston). A stone marker was erected in 1947 by the Evanston Historical Society on the site of the original station, listing all of the stations the St. Paul RR served south the Davis (but curiously omitting Evanston stations north of Calvary). The stone marker resides inside the current station.

The second station seems to have served until 1979, when it was replaced with a nondescript station with a modest building and abnormally large fluorescent lights were installed on the platform. (The platform and its canopies survived the reconstruction.)

 

The interior, fare controls, and CA booth of the new Davis station, looking northeast in the unpaid area in 2000. For a larger view, click here. (Photo by Graham Garfield)
This one served until the early 1990s, when a new station was built, completed in 1994. The inside of the red brick station is fairly utilitarian with few decorative features or amenities except a ticket booth, turnstiles and a concession stand. The platform, however, sports an attractive, European-style gray train shed and red brick two clock towers, one on each side of the tracks. There is also a decorative green steel canopy outside of the station on Benson Street to shelter waiting bus riders, as Davis is a major hub for Pace buses, as well as a stop for three of Evanston's four CTA bus routes.

In 2002, Davis became part of the RTA's Active Transit Station Signs (ATSS) project, becoming one of four project test sites. The ATSS signs provide real-time transit and traffic information on a demonstration basis. They display a countdown of the minutes until the next departing train, travel times to Howard, the Loop and Linden via the Purple Line, fare information, service disruption or delay messages or any other number of messages the CTA® chooses to program into the signs.

Installation of the ATSS signs by Divane Brothers began Labor Day weekend and had made significant progress by the end of September. ATSS signs have been located at the entrances to the station house from both Benson Avenue and the kiss'n'ride between the "L"TM and Metra stations, in the paid area on the back wall between the stairs to the platforms, and in two places along each platform. All of the signs have countdowns until the next train arrival, giving information on one train in each direction. When a train is close to the station, the time is replaced by "Train Arriving". When the train enters the station, the signs will change to read "Boarding". When the train leaves the station, the next scheduled train is shown. The signs were activated in early October, but due to a glitch in the programming, they have been temporarily programmed to show the time and date, give the "Train Arriving" and "Boarding" messages, and provide some other promotional messages the CTA® has programmed in until such time as the next-train countdowns can be activated.

In September 2004, Dunkin' Donuts, the coffee and baked goods chain, broke ground on seven new concessions in CTA® stations around the "L" system. One such new concession was located at Davis station. "This is the first major concerted effort to open a significant number of Dunkin' Donuts stores in CTA® stations," said Mike Lavigne, director of development for Dunkin' Donuts. All new Dunkin' Donuts /CTA® station stores were scheduled to be full-service. The new concession opened in 2005.

Davis's European-style train shed -- a design feature it has in common only with Library-State/Van Buren on the "L" -- gives the station a distinct look and grand atmosphere (as well as a sanctuary for pigeons, hence the metal spikes installed throughout) in the view looking north on the southbound platform in June 2001. For a larger view, click here. (Photo by Graham Garfield)

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The west entrances to the Davis station house, looking east in 1999. This entrances faces onto a cul-de-sac between the CTA embankment and the Union Pacific-North Line embankment (as Metra's Davis/Evanston station) where taxis line up and a "Kiss'n'Ride" (drop off area) is located. This entrances was closed for several months in 2001 when a new buildings at 808 Davis was built. (Photo from the Chicago Transit Authority Collection)

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The ATSS sign over the front entrance will display times for the next train in both directions, looking west on October 19, 2002. (Photo by Graham Garfield)

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Each platform at Davis has two ATSS signs, one on either side of the stairs, as seen on the outbound platform on October 19, 2002. (Photo by Graham Garfield)

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The ATSS signs have the ability not only to display next train times, but also any other messages the CTA® wishes to program in such as date and time, seen here on October 19, 2002. (Photo by Graham Garfield)

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Included in the design of the Davis station in the mid-1990s was a Kiss'n'Ride in back of the station, between the CTA® and Metra embankments. Looking southwest on August 13, 2003 from the "L" station entrance, we see the drop-off area and taxi stand with some modifications from its original design, including the addition of a subterranean garage entrance for newly-built 808 Davis Building in the center of the turnaround. The Davis Street Metra station is in the background. (Photo by Graham Garfield)

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The large, peaked train shed of Davis station, a landmark in downtown Evanston, is visible around the curve in the Purple Line right-of-way at Davis Street, looking north on April 12, 2006. (Photo by William Davidson)

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This "KDR"-style station symbol sign from the northbound platform probably dates from the 1970s. It was replaced in the mid-1990s with new signs of the same design but with slimmer dimensions to allow them to be mounted flush on the new station's columns and between railing balustrades.(Sign from the Andrew Stiffler Collection)

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A northbound Evanston train is led by car 4281 as it stops at Davis in downtown Evanston on October 2, 1972. (Photo by Steve Zabel, Collection of Joe Testagrose)

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As two Evanston trains of 4000-series cars meet at Davis station in downtown Evanston, car 4293 leads the northbound train (at left) on September 15, 1969. The trolley poles seen here would be needed for another four years before third rail was installed. (Collection of Joe Testagrose)

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Car 4274 is on the head end of a two-car Evanston Express train northbound at Davis in this undated photo. By the early 1970s, service to/from the Loop was largely supplied by four-car consists in PM rush service. (Photo from the Jeff Obarek collection)