Chicago ''L''.org: Stations

Above: The new Halsted station had been open less than three months when this picture was taken on February 17, 1928. The Beaux-Arts elements common to many of Arthur Gerber's 1920s stations are evident in the main entrance. For a larger view, click here. (Photo from the Krambles-Peterson Archive)

Above Right: The Halsted station in 1998. The old facility was replaced with this new steel, glass and tile structure when the Green Line was rehabbed. The towers are elevator shafts. The platforms visible in the upper left hand corner is part of the original 1906 station platform, detached and abandoned (and falling apart). For a larger view, click here. (Photo by Linda Garfield)

Halsted (6300S/800W)
Halsted Street and 63rd Street, Englewood

Service Notes:

Green Line: Ashland branch

Accessible Station

Quick Facts:

Address: 6321-25 S. Halsted Street
Established: December 24, 1906
Original Line: South Side Elevated, Englewood branch
Previous Names: none

Skip-Stop Type:

Station

Rebuilt: 1927, 1996
Status: In Use

History:

The original Halsted station house can been seen in this February 19, 1924 view looking east. An Interurban Traction car loads passengers on 63rd Place to the right while others wait for CSL streetcars. The Classical Revival station seen in shadow is similar to Racine one station west. For a larger view, click here. (Photo from the Krambles-Peterson Collection)

This station was put into service December 24, 1906, delayed by a nearly yearlong steel workers' strike. For decades, 63rd and Halsted was Chicago's premier shopping district.

The original station house was constructed of brick with stone sills and foundation, and wood and copper trim. Designed in the Classical Revival style by architect Earl Nielson, a classical pediment with articulated cornice, triglyphs, and Doric pilasters and piers on limestone bases with stone capitals are the prominent features of the building. The stairs and platform are wood on a steel structure with steel platform canopies and railings.

This Englewood-Howard "A" train is trailed by car 6450, stopped at Halsted/63rd on October 2, 1972. For a larger view, click here. (Photo by Steve Zabel, Collection of Joe Testagrose)

In 1927, the CRT improved this station (and a number of others) with new, larger station houses. Opening on December 1, the new $50,000 facility was designed by company architect Arthur Gerber in a style similar to those built at Logan Square and South Blvd. The structure was of the white terra cotta beaux-arts variety, with a grand front entrance with storefronts on Halsted and a side entrance facing a streetcar loop on 63rd Place, connected inside by an L-shaped corridor. Rental stores lined the halls while the fare controls occupied the east end of the building. Numerous CSL streetcar connections could be made from the station, as well as to the cars of the Chicago & Interurban Traction Company to Kankakee between 1912 and 1927.

The opening of the Evergreen Plaza shopping center to the west, as well as the rise of the automobile in the postwar era, combined with other factors to take away 63rd and Halsted's prominence as a regional shopping district. In the '80s, the city had a plan to revamp this and other Englewood stations as part of an urban revitalization project, but this never came to pass.

This old Halsted station was demolished in 1995 and replaced with a new glass, steel and tile structure as part of the Green Line renovation. The green and white station has one entrance on the corner of Halsted and what used to be 63rd Place and sports dual elevators for better accessibility. With the loss of this station, nearby Racine is the last original station left on the Englewood branch.

The current platforms at Halsted/63, looking west on October 17, 2004. The design, with green and white painted steel, is typical of many facilities built in the 1994-96 Green Line rehab. Note all of the vacant land around the station: the City of Chicago cleared most of the depressed commercial district around the station in 2004 for a new Kennedy-King College campus, whose construction was then delayed. For a larger view, click here. (Photo by Tony Coppoletta)

halsted-63rd03.jpg (150k)
The Halsted/63rd station, seen here circa 1923, was a major transfer point between several transportation modes. Besides the CSL streetcars, travelers could also transfer to the Chicago & Interurban Traction cars bound for Kankakee. This view looks northwest down 63rd Place from Union Avenue. (Photo from the Krambles-Peterson Archive)

halsted-63rd04.jpg (60k)
The beaux-arts Halsted station in the 1980s. The city had a plan to revamp this and other Englewood stations as part of an urban revitalization project, but this never came to pass.

halstedSign.jpg (12k)
The southbound symbol signs at Halsted/63rd are very unusual variants to the Current Graphic Standard system, most likely a result of the contractor simply switching the colors around. The white bar below "Halsted" should be green, with the words "to Ashland/63" in white and a white stripe at the bottom. (Photo by Graham Garfield)


Above: The new Halsted station had been open less than three months when this picture was taken on February 17, 1928. The Beaux-Arts elements common to many of Arthur Gerber's 1920s stations are evident in the main entrance. For a larger view, click here. (Photo from the Krambles-Peterson Archive)
Above Right: The Halsted station in 1998. The old facility was replaced with this new steel, glass and tile structure when the Green Line was rehabbed. The towers are elevator shafts. The platforms visible in the upper left hand corner is part of the original 1906 station platform, detached and abandoned (and falling apart). For a larger view, click here. (Photo by Linda Garfield)

	halsted-63rd03.jpg (150k) The Halsted/63rd station, seen here circa 1923, was a major transfer point between several transportation modes. Besides the CSL streetcars, travelers could also transfer to the Chicago & Interurban Traction cars bound for Kankakee. This view looks northwest down 63rd Place from Union Avenue. (Photo from the Krambles-Peterson Archive)
	halsted-63rd04.jpg (60k) The beaux-arts Halsted station in the 1980s. The city had a plan to revamp this and other Englewood stations as part of an urban revitalization project, but this never came to pass.
	halstedSign.jpg (12k) The southbound symbol signs at Halsted/63rd are very unusual variants to the Current Graphic Standard system, most likely a result of the contractor simply switching the colors around. The white bar below "Halsted" should be green, with the words "to Ashland/63" in white and a white stripe at the bottom. (Photo by Graham Garfield)