Jarvis Avenue Station
The Jarvis Avenue Station is typical of the stations on this section of the CTA Red Line, elevated on an embankment with a wooden island platform, with fare control at the street level below accessed via stairs at the center of the platform.
Quick Facts:
Address: 1523-25 W. Jarvis Avenue Established: May 16, 1908 Original Line: Northwestern Elevated Railroad Previous Names: Birchwood Skip-Stop Type:
Station
Rebuilt: 1921, 2012 Status: In Use
History:
"L" service first entered north Chicago and Evanston by way of an agreement to use the tracks of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway's tracks, replacing the steam service that the St. Paul had previously provided. The Chicago City Council authorized the electrification of the tracks of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad's tracks from Graceland Avenue (Irving Park Road) to the city limits on July 1, 1907. Unlike Evanston (as per the 1907 franchise agreement from the city), the Chicago City Council did not require that the grade-level tracks be elevated, but they did prohibit the use of a third rail for safety's sake, necessitating the use of overhead trolley wire. "L" service north of Wilson to Central Avenue in Evanston began on May 16, 1908.
The St. Paul had a station named Birchwood at Bryan Avenue (later renamed Jarvis Avenue) between Ashland Avenue and Perry Avenue (later Greenview Avenue). The station, of a style typical of railroad depots, was located on the east side of the tracks on the north side of Bryan. Although a Birchwood Avenue is located two blocks north of the station, the stop was not named for the street, but rather for the local community. Samuel B. Chase, a developer of what became the Rogers Park neighborhood, named the subdivision between Birchwood and Touhy avenues east of the St. Paul tracks "Birchwood Beach," after his farm in the Lake View section of Chicago.1 The name "Birchwood" was adopted by local residents and businessmen to refer to this section of Rogers Park, and was utilized by the St. Paul railroad for their depot serving the area.
As they did at the other stations on the newly electrified line, the Northwestern Elevated Railroad chose not to use the station facilities of the St. Paul steam railroad, which were situated and designed for the needs of a main line commuter railroad rather than a rapid transit service. Instead, the Northwestern built a new station at the same location as the St. Paul's station. The "L" station facility at Birchwood was a simple ground-level station and modest platform on the north side of Bryan Avenue. The station house was a small, wood frame building set between the two tracks at ground level with a wooden walkway and stairs leading up to it from the street. The exterior used clapboard siding and a hipped roof with eaves. The rear opened out onto an island platform. The platform had a short canopy with a hipped roof (which was actually a continuation of the station house's roof) and center wooden columns with angled brackets, and wood decking.
Track Elevation, a New Name, and a New Station
In the mid-1910s, the Northwestern Elevated began to elevate the tracks north from Wilson to Howard, but work was slow due to the city's refusal to close intersecting streets and the narrow right-of-way. The elevation work involved complex staging and the temporary relocation of tracks to maintain service while building the new elevated embankment in the same right-of-way. In early 1916, trains were moved onto a temporary trestle, allowing demolition of the original tracks and stations, but construction of a permanent embankment had to wait until the end of World War I due to a materials shortage.
The Birchwood station is seen in 1915. Writing on the photo says the station is at Chase Avenue, suggesting this is the station relocated in 1915. Note the gauntlet track to allow freight trains to clear the platform; this is one of two locations in Rogers Park where there was not a separate third track for freight trains. The track and cars on the right may be part of the track elevation project.
At midnight on July 1, 1915, the Birchwood station was relocated, apparently without warning and much to the dismay of the local residents and riders. The station's new location was variously cited as being at Chase Avenue, two blocks south of Jarvis, and at Sherwin Avenue, one block south of Jarvis. It is unclear why the station was relocated -- it's relatively light-wight wood-frame construction would make such an overnight move possible -- although it may have been part of the staging necessary for the track elevation project. Interestingly, when the Chicago Daily Tribune contacted the general offices of the Northwestern Elevated, the "L" company claimed to not be aware of the move. "Don't know a thing about it," a man at the office told the newspaper. "They certainly would have advised us if they were going to move it." The "they" he referred to was presumably the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul or their contractors, as the St. Paul still owned the line (the "L" leased it) and were the ones who undertook the design and construction of the track elevation project.
Other changes soon came to Birchwood station was well: On May 28, 1916, a local resident inquired to the Chicago Daily Tribune why conductors on the Northwestern Elevated trains had begun calling out the name of the station as "Jarvis Avenue-Birchwood" (suggesting that the stop had been relocated back to Jarvis Avenue by this time). The inquirer was seemingly displeased with the change, noting that "this district is fully established as Birchwood and business firms have adopted the name," and wanted to know what the permanent name of the station was to be. The Northwestern Elevated responded saying that "Jarvis Avenue" was added as a convenience to the public, many of whom were apparently confused by the name "Birchwood" referring to a district and not the street located two blocks north.5 By 1917, a year later, maps referred to the station simply as "Jarvis Ave.", making no mention of "Birchwood". By 1933, maps had dropped the "Ave." as well, simply calling the station "Jarvis" (as was common for most stations to not include the street type in the formal station name).
With the track elevation came a completely new station. The entrance to the "L" station was located on the south side of Jarvis Avenue. The station had a design typical of the facilities built as part of the Wilson-Howard elevation project. Designed by architect Charles P. Rawson and engineered by C.F Loweth, the architectural design was a Prairie School-influenced vernacular form, with the Prairie influence seen most acutely in the ornamental cement pilasters on the front facade and in the details of the wooden doors, windows, and ticket agents' booths. The exterior was brick and cast concrete with a bedford stone base, wooden doors and large plate glass windows and transoms. Ornamental globed light fixtures decorated the pilaster capitals. Jarvis's station house was centered within the solid-fill embankment, with retail spaces flanking it on both sides filling in the remaining width of the embankment.
The interior was rendered in plaster, wood, glazed brick, and brick with terrazzo floors. There were arches stretching across the interior between the support columns. In the center of the interior, passengers found a decorative wooden ticket agent's booth with ornamental woodwork and a metal grille over the ticket agent's window. The station also had public restrooms.
There were four tracks through Jarvis station, but the outer two tracks were for express trains and were not served by the station. A single island platform between the two center tracks served local trains. The platform had wood decking and a canopy with metal columns down the center line which split into gently-curving gull wing-shaped roof supports, supporting a wooden canopy roof. The stairs were sheltered by wooden enclosures with wooden bottoms and windows on top, divided into rows of square panes, with swinging doors at the front of each enclosure. Like most of the stations north of Lawrence, there was originally an auxiliary exit on the north side of the street, descending down in the middle of retail spaces built under the elevated, now closed.
In December 1920, it was reported that the Jarvis station, along with Argyle, Edgewater Beach, Bryn Mawr, Thorndale, and Granville, would be completed by late Spring 1921. By early 1922, the new four track mainline was completed, allowing full express service to the city limits.
In 2006, the station name signs and column signs on the platform were replaced, with Green Line Graphic Standard signs replacing the KDR Standard graphics, and new entrance signs installed as part of a signage upgrade project on the Red Line. As part of this effort, the station also received granite compass roses inset into the sidewalk in front of the station entrance to assist customers leaving the station to navigate their way, and three-sided galvanized steel pylons in the station house and on the platform to display maps and station timetables.
In 2008, the canopy at Jarvis was refurbished. The roof was removed and replaced with a new corrugated metal top. The metal canopy supports were stripped and repainted. New lighting was also installed as part of the renovation.
Refurbished Jarvis Avenue Station Reopens December 2012
December 14, 2012, was the first full day the station was open after renovation. The pilasters framing the main entrance doors and the ornamentation around the light fixtures convey the station's Prairie School influences. A separate retail space adjacent to the station is now integrated into the expanded station house footprint.
Photos
RPWRHS photo C002-0105 shows the Birchwood Street Station, one of the stops on the Evanston division of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad. Built in 1886, it was located on Bryan Street (now Jarvis Avenue) just east of Ashland Avenue, near the site of the present CTA Jarvis Avenue Station. Photo 1890.
RPWRHS photo C042-DN-61542 shows the Northwestern Elevated Railroad, Birchwood Street Station, in 1913.