Damen is a rapid transit station on the Chicago "L", currently serving its Blue Line. The station serves the popular and growing Bucktown and Wicker Park neighborhoods, and is consistently in the top 40 highest-ridership "L" stations. Opened on May 6, 1895, as Robey, it is the oldest station on the Blue Line, as well as one of only three on the line – along with nearby Western and California – to have side platforms rather than island platforms.

Damen   2000W 1600N
Chicago 'L' rapid transit station
General information
Location	1558 North Damen Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60622
Coordinates	41°54′35″N 87°40′39″W
Owned by	Chicago Transit Authority (1947–present) Chicago Rapid Transit Company (1924–1947) See text before 1924
Line(s)	O'Hare Branch
Platforms	2 Side platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
Bicycle facilities	Yes; Bicycle shed for 50 (2009)
History
Opened	May 6, 1895
Rebuilt	2014
Previous names	Robey
Passengers
2021	705,715[1]  21.1% (CTA)
Services
Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station Western toward O'Hare Blue Line Division toward Forest Park
Former services Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station Western toward Logan Square Logan Square branch Division Closed 1951 toward Marshfield Western Closed 1952 toward Lawndale Humboldt Park branch Terminus
Track layout Legend Blue Line northwest to O'Hare Damen Ave. Damen tower North Ave. Milwaukee Ave. Blue Line southeast to Forest Park

Robey was constructed by the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad to serve its Logan Square and Humboldt Park branches, being the last stop on the Logan Square branch before the Humboldt Park branch diverged from it. The Metropolitan's operations, along with the rest of the "L", were assumed by the private Chicago Rapid Transit Company in 1924 and the public Chicago Transit Authority in 1947. The rail lines that had been constructed by the Metropolitan were significantly altered in the 1950s, a process that entailed the closure of the Humboldt Park branch and the replacement of the Logan Square branch south of Damen. By 1958, this had created the "West-Northwest Route", which was renamed the Blue Line in 1992. Despite these changes, the Damen station itself remained remarkably well-preserved and is one of the oldest stations on the entire "L" system.

The popularity of the station increased in the early 21st century, leading to renovations in 2014 and 2018. It has been the subject of depictions in art and popular culture.

History

The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad Company was granted a 50-year franchise by the Chicago City Council on April 7, 1892,[2] and began securing right of way shortly thereafter.[3] As designed, the Metropolitan's operations would comprise a main line that went west from downtown to Marshfield, where three branches – one northwest to Logan Square, one due west to Garfield Park, and one southwest to Douglas Park – would diverge and serve various parts of Chicago's west side.[4] A further branch to Humboldt Park would proceed due west from the Logan Square branch just past Robey station.[lower-alpha 1][4][5] Unlike the competing South Side and Lake Street Elevateds, the Metropolitan never used steam traction; although it had originally intended to, and indeed had built much of its structure under the assumption that locomotives would be used,[7] it decided in May 1894 to have electrified tracks instead,[8] making it upon its opening the first electric elevated railroad in the United States.[9]

The Metropolitan's tracks by the site of the future Robey station were finished by the middle of October 1894, and were powered on in April 1895 for test and inspection runs.[5] The Metropolitan began service at 6 a.m. on Monday, May 6, 1895, between Robey on the Logan Square branch[lower-alpha 1] and Canal on the main line.[10] Of the eleven stations opened that day,[10] Robey is the only one still surviving, making it the oldest station on what is now the Blue Line. The Logan Square branch was extended to Logan Square on May 25, and the Humboldt Park branch opened on July 29.[5] Robey Street, on which the station lay and named for politician James Robey, was renamed Damen Avenue in 1927 for Father Arnold Damen.[11]

The Metropolitan's lines were originally operated by the West Side Construction Company, which had been responsible for constructing them, and would be transferred to the Metropolitan on October 6, 1896.[12] The backers and officers of the two companies were largely identical, however, so this transfer of ownership was nominal.[4][12] The expenses incurred in constructing the Metropolitan's vast trackage would come back to haunt the company, which entered receivership in 1897; the similarly-named Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railway Company was organized in January 1899 and assumed operations on February 3 of that year.[13] The new Metropolitan, along with the other companies operating "L" lines in Chicago, became a part of the Chicago Elevated Railways (CER) trust on July 1, 1911.[14] CER acted as a de facto holding company for the "L" – unifying its operations, instituting the same management across the companies, and instituting free transfers between the lines starting in 1913 – but kept the underlying companies intact.[15] This continued until the companies were formally merged into the single Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT) in 1924, which assumed operations on January 9; the former Metropolitan was designated the Metropolitan division of the CRT for administrative purposes.[16] Although municipal ownership of transit had been a hotly-contested issue for half a century, the publicly-owned Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) would not be created until 1945,[17] or assume operation of the "L" until October 1, 1947.[18]

The CTA instituted major changes on the "L", which was suffering from declining ridership, antiquated infrastructure, and complicated routing. With respect to the lines built by the Metropolitan, it instituted broad changes that had been planned since the late 1930s; the Logan Square branch south of Damen was replaced by the Milwaukee-Dearborn subway, which opened on February 25, 1951.[19] With the subway's opening, it also restricted the Humboldt Park branch to a shuttle service to and from Damen,[19] and closed it altogether in 1952. Combined with the replacement of the main line and Garfield Park branch with the Congress Line in 1958, this formed a new route called the "West-Northwest Route", which entered service on June 22, 1958.[20] This route was renamed the Blue Line in 1992.[21] Skip-stop, where certain "A" and "B" trains stopped at respective "A" and "B" stations, was instituted with the 1951 opening of the subway; Damen was deemed an "all-stop" station and was thus unaffected by this introduction.[19]

The Damen station itself remained remarkably well-preserved throughout the 20th century and the early 21st.

Station renovations and rehabilitations

California station house in 2011. Damen's station house was of a similar design until 1995.

Damen station house in 2022

Damen's platforms were extended to accommodate eight-car trains in the early 1930s, around the same time as the rest of the Metropolitan division's stations. These platform extensions were complete in 1931. Sometime before 1946, the southern (viewer's left) facade window of the station house was replaced with a doorway containing two doors. Damen Tower was rebuilt in 1950, but various factors rendered the new tower superfluous upon its construction, and it was never equipped for use in switching. Around the same time, a crosswalk connecting the main platforms with a single platform for use by Humboldt Park riders was constructed, going through the new tower, and would be used until the Humboldt Park branch's 1952 closure.

The first major renovation of Damen occurred on its 100th anniversary in 1995. The terra cotta elements of the station house's bay were removed and replaced with a more rusticated appearance, while the southern facade window was restored.

On December 22, 2014, the Damen station reopened after having been closed since October 20 for renovations, part of the CTA's $492 million "Your New Blue" project; Damen alone took $13.6 million to renovate, and combined with renovations to California and Western stations totaled $25.6 million. The renovation entailed increasing room in the station house's interior and refurbishing it, augmenting cycling facilities, and replacing the roof. Signage was also updated, a wider turnstile was installed for strollers and luggage, the platforms and stairs were replaced, and modern gooseneck lights were used to replicate the originals. The reopening was celebrated by local restaurants and establishments offering discounts to commuters, and the station was remarked by alderman Joe Moreno as "a vital link for Chicago to the Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhood ... benefit[ing] from a modernized station."[22] Concerns were raised for the accessibility of the station; no elevator access was added to the station despite its being the fourth-busiest station on the O'Hare branch.[22]

Station details

Infrastructure and facilities

Damen has two wooden side platforms and a station house at street level. The station house, made of red pressed brick and white limestone trim with a stone sill and foundation, was designed similarly to other stations on the Logan Square branch, with a corniced and dentiled front bay containing dual doors specifically marked "Entrance" and "Exit" and prolific use of terra cotta. Its platforms have hipped roof tin canopies in the center and decorative cast-iron railings with diamond designs.[23] Unlike elsewhere on the "L", station houses on the Metropolitan had central heating and a basement.[12] The Metropolitan's tracks and stations were constructed by the West Side Construction Company, a company with the same officers as the Metropolitan itself and the chief engineer of E. W. Elliot, with steel and iron from the Carnegie Steel Company.[12][4]

Operations and ridership

As originally opened, the Metropolitan's trains ran every six minutes between 6 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., and every ten minutes during the night; the average speed was 16 mph (26 km/h), and trains took 22 minutes to go from Robey to Canal.[10] The 1951 opening of the Dearborn subway was projected to take 13 minutes off the travel time between Logan Square and downtown;[19] as of 2022^[update], trains take 14–15 minutes between Logan Square and Clark/Lake station downtown.[24] As of 2022^[update], trains run at intervals ranging from 3 to 10 minutes during weekday rush hours from Damen.[25] The Blue Line has owl service, which serves Damen from 12:10 to 5:10 a.m. on weekdays and similar hours on weekends; during that time trains have intervals ranging from 10 to 30 minutes depending on the time of night.[25] In 2019, the Damen station had a total ridership of 2,023,150; this declined by 71.2 percent to 582,967 in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[26] Ridership rebounded somewhat in 2021^[update], increasing by 21.1 percent to 705,715.[1]

The fare across the "L" was legally mandated to be a nickel (5 cents, $1.37 in 2021) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This fare continued until temporarily increased by a cent to $0.06 ($1.27 in 2021) in 1917 before stabilizing to a dime (10 cents, $1.35 in 2021) in 1920.[27] Starting in 1922, fares were usually marketed in packs of three rides for 25 cents, or 8+1⁄3 cents per ride ($1.35 per ride in 2021), but individual fares remained 10 cents each.[28] At the same time, a weekly pass was introduced, the first in a major American city, for $1.25 ($20.24 in 2021) for rides outside of Evanston and Wilmette.[28]

Unlike the competing Lake Street Elevated, all of the Metropolitan's cars originally allowed smoking.[10] Smoking was banned by the city across the "L" and in streetcars in response to a 1918 influenza outbreak, a prohibition that has remained in force ever since.[29]

Connections

Electric trains in the late 19th century entailed one powered "motor car" pulling multiple unpowered "trailers". Humboldt Park trains were an exception; their motor cars pushed their trailers to Robey station, where they would be coupled to Logan Square motor cars for the trip downtown.[30] This was done outside of rush hours, when Humboldt Park trains ran through to downtown directly, and night periods, when they contained only one car.[30] Multiple-unit control was adopted by the Metropolitan in 1904–1905 and eliminated this procedure, but combining Humboldt Park and Logan Square trains at Damen persisted to some degree until 1950.[30]

By 1910, Robey Street had a streetcar line between Fullerton and 14th Street, serving the station; in that year the segment was through-routed with another segment to the south, extending the southern terminus to Blue Island Avenue.[31] By 1928, this route had owl service between 1:45 and 4:40 a.m., with a car running every 35 minutes in those hours;[32] during the day, streetcars in Chicago typically had intervals of between eight and fifteen minutes.[33] Buses replaced streetcars between Fullerton and Blue Island on weekends starting December 12, 1948, and assumed the route at all times on May 13, 1951, combining the former streetcar route with two recently-formed bus routes and forming a through-route up north to Rosehill Cemetery.[34]

As of 2022^[update] the station is served by the #50 Damen bus, the #56 Milwaukee bus, and the #72 North bus.[35]

CTA

• 50 Damen
• 56 Milwaukee
• 72 North

Damen Tower

A tower has existed at Damen station since its opening in 1895. The original tower was used for switching trains between Humboldt Park and Logan Square. The current tower, built in 1950, has never been used; it was originally intended to switch trains between Logan Square and Humboldt Park like its predecessor, as well as switch trains between the Milwaukee-Dearborn subway and Logan Square elevated; the subway was intended to supplement the elevated, similar to how the State Street subway supplements the older elevated North Side main line. However, when the CTA assumed control, it decided to discontinue Humboldt Park service and the old Logan Square elevated, rendering the tower superfluous. Despite this, the tower was still built on the west side of the tracks on the northern end of the southbound platform. In acknowledgment of its uselessness, it was never equipped with a tower panel or any other switching equipment.

Art

Damen station is the subject of Bert Monroy's Damen, a digital painting created in Photoshop.

In 2018, an LED display called "Soundtrack" was installed on the bottom of the "L" tracks above Damen Avenue, comprising several panels that change color based on vibrations from passing trains and moving cars.[36]

Notes

References

Works cited

• Borzo, Greg (2007). The Chicago "L". Arcadia. ISBN 9780738551005 – via Google Books.
• Lind, Alan R. (1974). Chicago Surface Lines: An Illustrated History. Park Forest, Illinois: Transport History Press.
• Moffat, Bruce G. (1995). The "L": The Development of Chicago's Rapid Transit System, 1888–1932. Chicago: Central Electric Railfans' Association. ISBN 0-915348-30-6.
• "The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad of Chicago". The Street Railway Review. 5: 263–274. January 15, 1895.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Damen (CTA Blue Line).