Central Station (Chicago terminal)

Chicago Central Station
Intercity rail
Illinois Central Depot, c. 1901
General information
Coordinates41°52′05″N 87°37′19″W / 41.86806°N 87.62194°W / 41.86806; -87.62194
ConnectionsRoosevelt Road station
Construction
ArchitectBradford L. Gilbert
Architectural styleRomanesque Revival
History
OpenedApril 17, 1893
ClosedMarch 5, 1972
Key dates
June 3, 1974Demolished
Former services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station
Homewood Panama Limited Terminus
Homewood Floridian
Homewood
toward Cincinnati
James Whitcomb Riley and George Washington
Homewood
toward Carbondale
Shawnee
Homewood Illini
Campus
Preceding station Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Following station
63rd Street
toward Cincinnati
Chicago, Cincinnati & Louisville Railroad
1907–1910
1925–1933
Terminus
Preceding station Illinois Central Railroad Following station
43rd Street Main Line Terminus
Hawthorne
toward Sioux City
Sioux City – Chicago
Preceding station New York Central Railroad Following station
63rd Street
toward Buffalo
Michigan Central Railroad
Main Line
(Until 1957)
Terminus
63rd Street
toward Cincinnati
ChicagoCincinnati
Preceding station Soo Line Following station
Schiller Park
toward Superior
Main Line
(1963–1965)
Terminus
Altenheim
toward Portal
Main Line
(Until 1912)
Location
Map

Central Station was an intercity passenger terminal in downtown Chicago, Illinois, at the southern end of Grant Park near Roosevelt Road and Michigan Avenue. Owned by the Illinois Central Railroad, it also served other companies via trackage rights. It opened in 1893, replacing Great Central Station (on the site of the current Millennium Station), and closed in 1972 when Amtrak rerouted services to Union Station. The station building was demolished in 1974. It is now the site of a redevelopment called Central Station, Chicago.

Adjoining platforms at Roosevelt served the Illinois Central's suburban trains for both the Electric and West lines, in addition to the South Shore Line interurban railroad. All three lines continued north to Randolph Street.