Wentworth (5900S/200W)
Wentworth Avenue and 59th Street, Englewood

Service Notes:

North-South Route, Englewood branch

Quick Facts:

Address: 5913 S. Wentworth Ave.
Established: December 10, 1905
Original Line: South Side Elevated Railroad, Englewood branch
Previous Names: none

Skip-Stop Type:

Station

Rebuilt: n/a
Status: Demolished

History:

The Englewood Branch of the South Side Rapid Transit began construction in 1903. It opened in segments, beginning November 3, 1905 with a shuttle from the main line at 58th Street to State Street. By December 10 it was extended to Wentworth and Princeton (actually 61st Street) on January 11, 1906. By July 13, 1907, the rest of the line was opened to its terminal at Loomis Blvd.

Wentworth station was designed by architect Earl Nielson and built by the American Bridge Company of New York. Like many Englewood stations, it had a mezzanine level station house even though the right-of-way beneath the structure was not used as a public thoroughfare. Two stairways, one on the north side and one on the south, led from the street up to the mezzanine. In between the stairs at street level was a brick commercial building, built at the same time as the station and owned by the South Side Elevated, intended to bring in additional revenue from its rental. As such, the mezzanine was completely obscured from view from the street, making the two stairways flanking the storefront the only visible entrance to the station.

The mezzanine station house's design was unremarkable and functional, with little architectural style to its execution. Measuring roughly 25 feet by 35 feet, it was constructed of wood on a steel structure. Its interior was simple, containing an agent's booth built into the wall, a porter's closet, and a restroom. From the back of the mezzanine two stairways led to each of the station's dual side platforms. The platforms were typical of those on the Englewood branch, with wood decking on a steel structure. The canopies were supported from the back of the platform, with steel arched supports and latticework along the back and a hipped corrugated metal roof. Railings were simple and without ornament.

Though most of the platform's signage was updated in the late-1970s, Wentworth still displayed one of the original blue and white porcelain enamel signs, which hung around for some time after the station closed! (Sheridan then had the last one left on the system, and it was removed in 2002.)

The station survived the CTA's^® July 31, 1949 North-South service revision and numerous other closings, becoming an "A" station on the CTA's^® North-South Route. As the neighborhood declined, however, and ridership dropped, serving only about 650 passengers on an average weekday by the mid-1980s. Consistently rating in the lowest five or so stations in terms of ridership, it was regularly under the threat of closure. Finally, the station was unable to withstand the cutbacks that resulted in the February 9, 1992 service purge, closing without fanfare. The same day, Harvard, the next station west on the Englewood Branch, also closed, creating a gap about two miles long between stations. Today, only the west end of the south platform remains, with a storage box and two old lights adorning the platform segment.

Car 6394 brings up the rear of an Englewood-Howard "A" train stopped at Wentworth in this excellent platform view dated October 2, 1972. For a larger view, click here. (Photo by Steve Zabel. Collection of Joe Testagrose)

	wentworth02.jpg (70k) A view of the side stairs, platform, canopy and latticework on the eastbound side of Wentworth. (Photo from the Collection of Michael Roegner)
	cta6428b.jpg (102k) Car 6428 leads an Englewood-Howard "A" train at Wentworth station on October 2, 1972. Note the old-style blue and white enamel sign. One of these actually survived until the station's closure in 1992. (Photo by Steve Zabel, Collection of Joe Testagrose)
	wentworth_signEB.jpg (75k) Circa the 1980s, when Wentworth station received KDR-type signage, the platform received these "symbol signs". The red color of the sign comes from a color-coding of signage under the KDR scheme, with A stations being red. (Sign from the Andrew Stiffler Collection)
	wentworth03.jpg (32k) All that's left of Wentworth: a small piece of the south platform, a storage box and two shepherd's crook lights (one without a head). (Photo by Linda Garfield)
	wentworth05.jpg (31k) A close-up of the platform from wentworth03.jpg. (Photo by Linda Garfield)
	ROW@wentworth.jpg (176k) The former site of the Wentworth station, as it appeared looking west on October 17, 2004. Wentworth Avenue is direct below the photographer, so the station would have been in the foreground of the photo. A short remnant of the west end of the inbound (south) platform is visible on the left. (Photo by Tony Coppoletta)