CHICAGO

ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES

flag.us

25 Feb. 1951

The Chicago system on the inauguration of the second Chicago subway line (the Milwaukee-Dearborn line) by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA).


Chicago streetcar Chicago loop junction Chicago elevated train

Chicago tram map – 1951

FIRST INSET: DOWNTOWN CHICAGO

Chicago downtown tram map – 1951

SECOND INSET: INTERURBAN NETWORK AROUND CHICAGO

Chicago interurban tram map – 1951

ABBREVIATIONS ON THE MAPS

BM Belmont Station ISM Illinois Steel Co. Mills
Bu Buffalo Av. MF Marshfield Station
CA Commercial Av. VB Van Buren St.
HA Harvard Av. WR W Randolph St.

ROUTES

STREETCAR ROUTES

Operator: Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)

  3 Lincoln - Indiana Peterson Av. & Lincoln - Lincoln Av. - State St. - [Lake St. - Wabash Av.] [back: State St.] - Indiana Av. - E 47th St. - Illinois Central RR.
  4 Cottage Grove W Randolph St. & N Wabash Av. - Wabash Av. - Indiana Av. - Cottage Grove Av. - 115th St.
  6 Van Buren State St. - Van Buren St. - S Kedzie Av.
  8 Halsted Grace St. & Broadway - Halsted St. - W 79th St.
  9 Ashland Irving Park Blvd. & Clark St. - Ashland Av. - W 95th St.
12 Roosevelt Austin Bvd. (City limits) - W Roosevelt Rd. - E Roosevelt Rd. - Grant Park
16 Lake Austin Bvd. (City limits) - Lake St. - State St. - Downtown (Van Buren St.)1
20 Madison Austin Bvd. (City limits) - W Madison St. - W Madison St. [back: W Monroe St. - Clinton St.] - S. Dearborn St.
20X* Madison - 5th Avenue Pulaski Av. - 5th Av. - W Madison St. - W Madison St. [back: W Monroe St. - Clinton St.] - S. Dearborn St.
21 Cermak Kenton Av. (City limits) - Cermak Rd. - Burnham Park
22 Clark Howard St. (City limits) - Clark St. - S Wentworth Av. - Vincennes Av. - W 81st St. & S Halsted St.
28 Stony Island W Randolph St. & N Wabash Av. - Wabash Av. - Indiana Av. - Cottage Grove Av. - E 47th St. - Stony Island Av. - E 93rd St.
35 35th S Kedzie Av. - 36th St. - California Av. - 35th St. - Cottage Grove Av.
36 Broadway N Clark St. - Devon Av. - Broadway - N Clark St. - N State St. - S State St. - Indiana Av. - S Michigan Av. - 119th St. - S Morgan St.
38 Indiana W Randolph St. & N Wabash Av. - Wabash Av. - Indiana Av. - E 51st St. - S Parkway
38X* Indiana - 43rd St. W Randolph St. & N Wabash Av. - Wabash Av. - Indiana Av. - 43rd St. - Illinois Central RR.
42 Halsted Downtown Lake St. - [State St.] [back: Polk St. - Dearborn St.] - State St. - Archer Av. - S Halsted St. - W 79th St.
43 43rd S Halsted St. - Root St. - 43rd St. - Illinois Central RR.
44 Wallace - Racine W 87th St. - S Racine Av. - W 47th St. - S Halsted St. - Pershing Rd. - S Wallace St. - Archer Av. - State St. - [Polk St. - Dearborn St.] [back: State St.] - Lake St.
45 Ashland - Downtown W 95th St. - Ashland Av. - Archer Av. - State St. - [Polk St. - Dearborn St.] [back: State St.] - Lake St.
47 47th S Kedzie Av. - 47th St. - Illinois Central RR.
49 Western Berwyn Av. - Western Av. - W 79th St.
50 Damen Fullerton Av. - Damen Av. - Blue Island Av.
52 Kedzie - California Roscoe St. - N California Av. - W Chicago Av. - Kedzie Av. - Marquette Park (W 67th St.)
53 Pulaski W 31st St. - Pulaski Rd. - Pulaski Av. - Bryn Mawr Av.
54 Cicero W 26th St. - Cicero Av. - Montrose Av.
56 Milwaukee Imlay Av. (City limits) - Milwaukee Av. - W Washington St. [back: W. Madison St. - N Clinton St.] - N Dearborn St.
56X* Milwaukee Armitage Grand Av. - Armitage Av. - Milwaukee Av. - W Washington St. [back: W. Madison St. - N Clinton St.] - N Dearborn St.
58 Ogden S Laramie Av. - W 25th St. - Ogden Av. - W Randolph St. [back: W Washington St.] - N Dearborn St.
60 Blue Island - 26th Kenton Av. (City limits) - 26th St. - Blue Island Av. - Harrison St. - S Clinton St. - W Monroe St. [back: W Adams St.] - S Dearborn St.
63 63rd Narragansett Av. - W 63rd Pl. - 63rd St. - Stony Island Av.
65 Grand N Harlem Av. (City limits) - Grand Av. - Municipal Pier
66 Chicago Austin Bvd. (City limits) - W Chicago Av. - E Chicago Av. - Lake Shore Drive - Municipal Pier
67 67th - 69th Marquette Park - W 71st St. - S Western Av. - W 69th St. - E 67th St. - S Shore Dr.
73 Armitage N Clark St. - Armitage Av. - Grand Av.
79 79th S Western Ave. - 79th St. - Lake Michigan (Rocky Ledge Beach)
81 Lawrence Austin Av. - Lawrence Av - Broadway
87A 87th Vincennes Av. - 87th St. - Commercial Av.
95E 93rd - 95th S State St. - E 95th St. - Cottage Grove Av. - E 93rd St. - S Chicago Av. - E 92nd St. - Buffalo Av. - Illinois Steel Co. Mills

Note: * Route numbers with an X extension were not used for the official numbering of these routes. Streetcars on these routes had the normal number designation, the X is simply for the convenience of users of this site.

1 Putting the downtown terminus of line 16 (State) at the intersection of Van Buren St. and State St. is pure guess - but it must have been somewhere!

Service discontinuation dates between 1 Oct. 1947 and 25 Feb. 1951 (corresponding route numbers in brackets):

  • 1947 Dec. 15: Devon Av. (between N Kedzie Av. & N Clark St.) (36)
  • 1948 Jan. 26: South Damen Av. (48)
  • 1948 Feb. 15: Pershing Rd. (39); W 59th St. - E 61st St. (59); 38th St. extension (62X)
  • 1948 Feb. 29: Harrison (7, 7A); 26th St. (26); 31st St. (31)
  • 1948 Apr. 11: W 63rd Pl. - Argo (from Narraganseet Av. to Oak Park Av. 63, from Oak Park v. to Argo, 63W)
  • 1948 Apr. 25: Stony Island Av. - E 73rd St. - Coles Av. (24/27); Exchange Av. - Commercial Av. (24); Commercial Av. - Torrence Av. (27)
  • 1948 May 30: 51st St. (51); Archer Av. (SW of Ashland) - Cicero Av. (62)
  • 1948 July 25: 16th St. / 14th St. - Canal St. (14); S Leavitt St. - 18th St. (18); S Morgan St. - Racine Av. (23)
  • 1948 Aug. 1: Damen Av. - Rosehill (11X); Roscoe St. - Damen Av. (40); Western Av. (between Howard St. & Devon Av., and between W 79th St. and 111th St.) (49); Irving Park Av. (80)
  • 1948 Dec. 12: Western Av. (between Devon Av. & Berwyn Av.) (49)
  • 1949 Jan. 9: Belmont Av. (77; between Damen & Ashland, also 40)
  • 1949 Dec. 4: S Chicago Avenue (5); S. Halstead St. south of W 79th St. - Vincennes Av. - S 111th St. (8); Kedzie Av. (between Milwaukee Av. and Bryn Mawr Av.) (17); W 31st St. (between Kostner Av & Pulaski Rd.) (53); North Av. (72); Fullerton Av. (74)
  • 1950 Sept. 6: S Canal St. - W Polk St. - S Wells St. (12X)
  • 1951 Jan. 21: Elston Av. (55)
  • 1951 Feb. 4: W Division St. (6, 70)
  • 1951 Feb. 18: La Salle St. / Wells St. (11); Larrabee St. (40)

RAPID TRANSIT ROUTES (ELEVATED RAILROADS AND SUBWAYS)

Operator: Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)

Note: The one and two-character codes used to identify routes below and in the maps are for convenience only, and were not used by the operating company.

  1 State Street Subway Roosevelt Rd. - State St. - Division St. - Clybourn Av. - North Av.
  2 Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway La Salle Stn - Dearborn St. - Lake St. - Milwaukee Av. - Damen Stn. - Logan Square / Humboldt Park
DP Douglas Park Line Loop - (Garfield Park Line) - Marshfield - Douglas Park - Oak Park
EH Englewood - Howard Englewood - Pershing Rd. Station - Roosevelt Rd. - State Street Subway - Belmont - Howard St.
EL Evanston - Loop Linden (Evanston) - Howard St. - Belmont - Pershing Rd. Station - Loop [Rush-hour express service]
EW Evanston-Wilmette Branch Howard Street - Linden (Evanston) [Shuttle]
GP Garfield Park Line Loop - Marshfield - Garfield Park - Columbus Park (Austin) - Bellwood - Westchester
JH Jackson Park - Howard Jackson Park - Pershing Rd. Station - Roosevelt Rd. - State Street Subway - Belmont - Howard Street
KI Kenwood - Indiana Av. Kenwood - Indiana Av. [Shuttle]
L Lake Street Line Loop - Lake Street - Forest Park
NH Normal Park - Harvard Av. Normal Park - Harvard Av. [Shuttle]
RL Ravenswood - Loop Kimball Stn. - Belmont - Loop
SI Stock Yards - Indiana Av. Stock Yards - Indiana Av. [Shuttle]

INTERURBAN ROUTES

Operator: Chicago Aurora & Elgin Railroad (CA&E)

   AE&C Line Wells St. & Jackson Blvd Terminal - Garfield Park Elevated Line - Bellwood - Wheaton - (Elgin) / (Batavia Jnctn. - Batavia) / (Batavia Jnctn. - Aurora)

Operator: Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railway

   Skokie Valley - Mundelein Route Chicago - Dempster (Skokie) - Lake Bluff - Libertyville - Mundelein
   Shore Line Route Chicago - Linden (Evanston) - Lake Bluff - North Chicago - Waukegan
   Skokie Valley - Milwaukee Route Chicago - Dempster (Skokie) - Lake Bluff - North Chicago - Kenosha - Racine - Milwaukee

Operator: Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad

   South Shore Line Randolph Street Terminal - Roosevelt Rd. Station - 63rd St. Station - Kensington 115th St. - East Chicago - Gary - South Bend

ELECTRIC COMMUTER ROUTES (IC ELECTRIC)

Operator: Illinois Central Railroad

   Blue Island Branch Randolph Street Terminal - Roosevelt Rd. Station - 63rd St. Station - Kensington 115th St. - Blue Island
   Main Line Randolph Street Terminal - Roosevelt Rd. Station - 63rd St. Station - Kensington 115th St. - Riverdale - Harvey - Richton Park
   South Chicago Branch Randolph Street Terminal - Roosevelt Rd. Station - 63rd St. Station - South Chicago (E 93rd Street)

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SYSTEM

NETWORK LENGTH

  • Streetcar lines: ? km.
  • Subway: 14.2 km.
  • Elevated lines: 120 km.
  • Interurban lines:
    • Chicago Aurora & Elgin Railroad (CA&E): ? km.
    • Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railway: 165 km.
    • Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad: 141 km.
  • Electric commuter line (Illinois Central): 46 km.