Wells Street Station (Chicago)

Wells Street Station was a former passenger terminal of the Chicago and North Western Railway, located at the southwest corner of Wells Street and Kinzie Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. It was replaced in 1911 by the Chicago and North Western Terminal on the other (west) side of the North Branch of the Chicago River, removing passenger trains from the bascule bridge over the river. The Merchandise Mart opened in 1930 on the land formerly occupied by the station.

History

The line running past the station was part of the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, the first railroad in Chicago (though it ended on the west side of the North Branch of the Chicago River until the early 1850s). By 1856 a station was in place east of the river, and soon the Chicago and North Western Railway had acquired the G&CU and two other lines (now the three lines of Metra's Union Pacific District). In 1881 the Wells Street Station opened in the same location.

As both rail and ship traffic increased, the bascule bridge over the river resulted in congestion. In 1911 the new Chicago and North Western Terminal opened, with new elevated approaches branching from the old ones west of the river. The station remained for freight, and when the Merchandise Mart opened in 1930 (using air rights above the railroad), a new freight station served the Mart, and was connected by elevators to the Chicago Tunnel Company.

External links

References

* [http://www.merchandisemart.com/marchitecture/air_rights.html The Merchandise Mart - Air Rights]