Chicago ''L''.org: Stations

The State/Van Buren elevated station, looking north in the late 1940s. Its architecture was standard for the three stations on the Van Buren leg of the Loop. Note the self-promoting advertisement above the mezzanine: in their early years, the CTA often used their stations and viaducts to promote their services. (Photo from the Chicago Transit Authority Collection)

State/Van Buren (1E-1W/400S)
State Street and Van Buren Street, Loop

Service Notes:

Loop

Quick Facts:

Address: 400 S. State Street
Established: October 3, 1897
Original Line: Union Elevated Railroad
Previous Names: none

Skip-Stop Type:

Station

Rebuilt: n/a
Status: In Use

History:

This aerial shot of State/Van Buren was taken within days of the "L"'s October 3, 1897 opening. (Photo from Western Electrician)

State/Van Buren was one of three near-identical stations on the Loop's south side. (Today only LaSalle/Van Buren remains.) The Colonial Revival-esque station served the south end of the famous State Street shopping district. Although hardly high-style architecture, its rectangular form, gable roof with small dormers, smooth Tucson posts, fluted pilasters, large double-hung windows, and unique ornamentation in the pediment lend it to the Colonial Revival. This architectural style can not be found anywhere else on the "L" and is unusual for its execution in sheet metal and tin. This station and the Loop as a whole was activated October 3, 1897, first served by the Lake Street Elevated. The Metropolitan followed in October 11th, with the South Side trailing on October 18th.

As part of an ongoing platform lengthening effort, the platforms of State and Dearborn had been lengthened to the point of connecting, creating a station referred to as State/Dearborn. By 1930, all three Van Buren stations had been lengthened to the point of being continuous from State to LaSalle (but, at the same time, State seems to have also regained its individual identity). The station houses themselves were expanded and improved upon several times in addition to being decorated for the holidays every year.

In 1949 Dearborn/Van Buren was closed and State became an individual station again. Still using exceptionally long platforms, State/Van Buren remained an active station in the Loop, integrating the former Dearborn station houses as auxiliary entrances/exits. In 1958, with the opening of the new Congress Line and the inauguration of West-Northwester service, "L"-to-subway transfers were revised. Free transfers between Randolph/Wells and Lake Transfer and between State/Lake and Washington/State were discontinued. The "up" (subway-to-"L") transfer between Lake Transfer and Clark/Lake was maintained, but a new "down" only between State/Van Buren and Jackson-Van Buren/Dearborn was initiated, as well as an "up" and "down" transfer between State/Van Buren and Jackson-Van Buren/State. The free transfers between State/Van Buren, Jackson-Van Buren/Dearborn and Jackson-Van Buren/State were discontinued in 1969 when the Dan Ryan Line opened and West-South service was inaugurated.

In 1967, State/Van Buren became the second Loop "L" station to receive escalators for passenger convenience (the first station was State/Lake). The next year, the Dearborn station house entrances to State/Van Buren were closed after an explosion damaged the facility. Later that year, the unused portions of the continuous elevated platforms on Van Buren were blocked off and eventually demolished.

Amid a year of extensive service revisions and station and station entrance closures, the CTA closed the State/Van Buren station on September 2, 1973, presumably fallen ridership. The next year, a truck struck the mezzanine of the shuttered elevated station, causing extensive structural damage. The station was demolished soon thereafter, completely removed by the next year.

This location did without a Loop "L" station for the next 24 years. In 1997, a new station, Library-State/Van Buren, was built between State and Dearborn in conjunction with the construction of the new Harold Washington Library.

For additional information and photos of the new Library-State/Van Buren elevated station (1997-present), click here to see the Library-State/Van Buren station profile.

For years, the Chicago Rapid Transit decorated the two State Street "L" stations for the holidays, like State/Van Buren, above, in 1932. (Photo from the Chicago Transit Authority Collection)

state-vanburen01.jpg (192k)
An enlarged view of the 1897 aerial photo of State/Van Buren above. (Photo from Western Electrician)

060824pv.jpg (125k) [Off-site link]
This 1971 view looks east from State/Van Buren station at Tower 12 and the curve from Van Buren onto Wabash as a Lake-Dan Ryan train crosses from the Loop into the South Loop Connector en route to the Dan Ryan Line. (Photo by Jack Boucher, courtesy of the Historic American Engineering Record, Library of Congress)

060792pv.jpg (128k) [Off-site link]
Tower 12 is seen looking east from State/Van Buren station in 1971. (Photo by Jack Boucher, courtesy of the Historic American Engineering Record, Library of Congress)

	state-vanburen01.jpg (192k) An enlarged view of the 1897 aerial photo of State/Van Buren above. (Photo from Western Electrician)
	060824pv.jpg (125k) [Off-site link] This 1971 view looks east from State/Van Buren station at Tower 12 and the curve from Van Buren onto Wabash as a Lake-Dan Ryan train crosses from the Loop into the South Loop Connector en route to the Dan Ryan Line. (Photo by Jack Boucher, courtesy of the Historic American Engineering Record, Library of Congress)
	060792pv.jpg (128k) [Off-site link] Tower 12 is seen looking east from State/Van Buren station in 1971. (Photo by Jack Boucher, courtesy of the Historic American Engineering Record, Library of Congress)