EARLY CAR HOUSES IN CHICAGO

Car houses known to exist in Chicago prior to the early 1900's. Data is generally itemized according to the streetcar companies existing in the 1890's. Most of these car houses were replaced between 1907 and 1910, although some continued to be used by the streetcar companies for storage or various other purposes. Some buildings eventually passed into CTA ownership, when CTA took over the Chicago Surface Lines in 1947.

Names listed are not necessarily the official names of the car houses. Current street names are used, some streets were renamed over the years. Actual addresses may not be exact.

CALUMET ELECTRIC STREET RAILWAY

BURNSIDE
9314 S. Drexel Ave. (at 93rd St.)
Opened in 1893
Used by Chicago Surface Lines until September 12, 1949
Building now used by small industry

SOUTH CHICAGO CITY RAILWAY

EWING
9338 S. Ewing Ave.
Opened in 1893
Building vacated by 1911, sold, demolished in 2010

CHELTENHAM
7828 S. Coles Ave.
Opened in 1893
Building vacated by 1911, demolished

In 1908, these two companies merged into the Calumet & South Chicago Railway Co.

CHICAGO CITY RAILWAY

ARCHER (OLD)
3052 S. Archer Ave. (at Pitney Ct.)
Opened in 1885
Building vacated by 1911
Building demolished, Stevenson Expressway presently occupies location

COTTAGE GROVE
3800 S. Cottage Grove Ave. (at 38th St.)
Opened in 1885
Replacement car house opened in 1907

WALLACE
533 W. Pershing Rd. (at Wallace Ave.)
Opened in 1891
Building sold before 1925, demolished

39TH STREET
3900 S. Wabash Av. (at Pershing Rd.)
Opened in 1900
Building sold before 1925, demolished

61ST STREET
6131 S. State St.
Opened in 1888
Building sold before 1925, demolished

69TH STREET (OLD)
6900 S. Emerald Ave. (at 69th St.)
Opened in 1888
Remained for storage after 1908
Building owned by CTA at least into 1980's
Building demolished

77TH STREET
210 W. 79th St. (at Vincennes Ave.)
Opened in 1902
Additional car house opened in 1907

SOUTH SHOPS
7801 S. Vincennes (next to 77th St. Car House)
Opened in 1902
Still in use by CTA as main bus maintenance facility

ENGLEWOOD & CHICAGO ELECTRIC RAILWAY

88TH AND VINCENNES
8800 S. Vincennes Ave. (at 88th St.)
Used for battery cars 1896-1901
Remained for storage after 1908
Building sold before 1949, demolished

Englewood & Chicago Electric Railway Co. was sold in 1897 to Chicago Electric Traction Co., and sold in 1908 to Chicago & Southern Traction Co. In 1912, segment within city of Chicago sold to Chicago City Railway Co.

NORTH CHICAGO STREET RAILROAD

CLYBOURN
2301 N. Clybourn Ave. (at Bosworth Ave.)
Used for Clybourn Ave. cable cars 1891-1906
Building sold before 1925, demolished

EDGEWATER
6330 N. Clark St. (at Highland Ave.)
Remained for storage after 1901
Building sold before 1925
Building remains standing, now a taxicab garage

GARFIELD
1957 N. Racine Ave. (at Maud Ave.)
Main building (south of Maud Ave.) sold before 1925
North building (north of Maud Ave.) passed into CTA ownership as storage garage
Buildings demolished

GRACELAND
1345 W. Irving Park Rd. (at Southport Ave.)
Building vacated by 1923, sold
Building demolished, post office presently occupies location

LIMITS
2684 N. Clark St. (at Schubert Ave.)
Used for Clark St. cable cars 1888-1906
Replacement car house opened in 1909

LINCOLN
1001 W. Wrightwood Ave. (at Lincoln Ave./Sheffield Ave.)
Used for Lincoln Ave. cable cars 1889-1906
Replacement car house opened in 1910

RACINE
1158 W. Belden Ave. (at Racine Ave.)
Building vacated by 1925, demolished

WELLS AND NORTH
1624 N. Wells St. (at North Ave.)
Building demolished

In 1999, the North Chicago Street Railroad Co. and the West Chicago Street Railroad Co. were merged into the Chicago Union Traction Co. And in 1908, the Chicago Union Traction Co. was merged into Chicago Railways.

WEST CHICAGO STREET RAILROAD

ARMITAGE
Also known as "Station H"
2501 W. Armitage Ave. (at Campbell Ave.)
Opened in 1878
Used for Milwaukee Ave. cable cars 1890-1906
Used by Chicago Surface Lines until May 11, 1952
Building now used by small industry

BLUE ISLAND
2526 S. Blue Island Ave. (at Leavitt Ave.)
Opened in 1892
Used for Blue Island Ave. cable cars 1893-1906
Replacement car house at 24th St. opened in 1908, immediately north
Building remains standing, abandoned

CRAWFORD
Also known as "Station K"
3910 W. Madison St. (at Springfield Ave.)
Located in same complex as West Shops
Used for Madison St. cable cars 1890-1906
Building passed into CTA ownership, demolished

GRAND
2159 W. Grand Ave. (at Leavitt Ave.)
Remained for storage after 1910, later garage for non revenue vehicles
Building passed into CTA ownership
Building now used as furniture store

GRAND AND PULASKI
2159 W. Grand Ave. (at Pulaski Rd.)
Building passed into CTA ownership, demolished

KEDZIE
358 S. Kedzie Ave. (at Van Buren St.)
Replacement car house opened in 1910

LAKE AND HARDING
301 N. Harding Ave. (at Lake St.)
Building passed into CTA ownership, demolished

LAWNDALE
3925 W. Cermak Ave. (at Pulaski Ave./Ogden Ave.)
Replacement car house opened in 1910

O'NEIL
813 W. 23rd St. (at Halsted St.)
Used for Halsted St. cable cars 1893-1906
Remained for storage after 1909
Building passed into CTA ownership, demolished

OGDEN
2341 W. Ogden Ave. (at Western Ave.)
Later used as "Frog Shop"
Building demolished

POLK AND ROCKWELL
2541 W. Polk St. (at Rockwell Ave.)
Building demolished

ROCKWELL
2560 W. Madison St. (at Rockwell Ave.)
Used for Madison St. cable cars 1890-1906
Building sold before 1922

WESTERN
Also known as "Station A"
100 N. Western Ave. (at Washington Blvd.)
Remained for storage after 1910
Building passed into CTA ownership, demolished

WEST SHOPS
3901 W. West End Ave. (at Springfield Ave.)
Opened before 1907
Still in use by CTA for miscellaneous fabrication/construction

In 1999, the North Chicago Street Railroad Co. and the West Chicago Street Railroad Co. were merged into the Chicago Union Traction Co. And in 1908, the Chicago Union Traction Co. was merged into Chicago Railways.

CHICAGO ELECTRIC TRANSIT CO.

ELSTON
3610 N. Elston Ave. (at Addison St.)
Opened in 1894
Used by Chicago Surface Lines until May 11, 1952
Building demolished

Chicago Electric Transit Co. was merged in 1899 into Chicago Consolidated Traction Co.

CHICAGO NORTH SHORE STREET RAILWAY

EDGEWATER
5847 N. Broadway (near Ardmore Ave.)
Opened in 1893
Replaced by Devon car house in 1902
Used as Ardmore bus garage 1937-1950
Building remains standing, abandoned except for CTA substation within northwest corner.

Chicago North Shore Street Railway Co. was sold in 1894 to North Chicago Electric Railway Co., and merged in 1899 into Chicago Consolidated Traction Co.

NORTH CHICAGO ELECTRIC RAILWAY

BELLE PLAINE
4122 N. Lincoln Ave. (at Belle Plaine)
Building sold before 1925, demolished

North Chicago Electric Railway was merged in 1899 into Chicago Consolidated Traction Co.

CICERO & PROVISO STREET RAILWAY

MADISON
4000 W. Madison St. (at Crawford Ave./Pulaski Rd.)
Opened in 1890
Building sold in 1910, demolished in 1920

WEST TOWNS
259 Lake St., Oak Park
Opened in 1890
Went to Chicago & West Towns Railway Co., later West Towns Bus Co.
Used by Pace as bus garage until 1986

Cicero & Proviso Street Railway was merged in 1899 into Chicago Consolidated Traction Co.

In 1908, Chicago Consolidated Traction Co. was merged into Chicago Railways. And in 1910, that former Cicero & Proviso Street Railway trackage in the suburbs was sold to County Traction Co., and in 1913 became part of Chicago & West Towns Railway Co.

CHICAGO GENERAL RAILWAY

31ST STREET
3240 W. 31st St. (at Spaulding Ave.)
Building sold before 1923, demolished

In 1905, Chicago General Railway was sold to Southern Street Railway.

In addition, the Northern Electric Railway operated independently from 1894 to 1902, when it ceased operations. Their car house was located at Armitage Ave. and Central Ave.