Grand station (CTA Logan Square branch)

GRAND   1700W 500N
Former Chicago 'L' rapid transit station
Typical station on the Metropolitan's double-tracked lines, of which Grand was an example
General information
Location	1714 West Grand Avenue[1] Chicago, Illinois, US
Coordinates	41°53′28″N 87°40′13″W / 41.8910°N 87.6703°W / 41.8910; -87.6703
Owned by	Chicago Transit Authority (1947–1951) Chicago Rapid Transit Company (1924–1947) See text before 1924
Line(s)	Logan Square branch
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
History
Opened	May 6, 1895; 129 years ago (1895-05-06)
Closed	February 25, 1951; 73 years ago (1951-02-25)
Passengers
1948	128,950  23.25% (CTA)
Rank	196 out of 223
Former services
Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station Chicago toward Logan Square Logan Square branch Lake Street Transfer toward Marshfield
Location

Grand was a rapid transit station on the Chicago "L"'s Logan Square branch, one of the several branches of the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad. Located on Grand Avenue, the station was constructed by the Metropolitan in the early 1890s and began service on May 6, 1895.

The Metropolitan, one of four companies that would build what became the Chicago "L", had many branches to serve Chicago's west side, including the Logan Square branch on which Grand lay. With some interruptions and financial issues, it operated these lines until 1911, when it handed operations to Chicago Elevated Railways, and formally merged into the Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT) in 1924. The "L" was taken over by the publicly-held Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) in 1947.

A subway had been planned since the late 1930s to reach downtown in a more direct way than the portion of the Logan Square branch where Grand stood. This subway was originally intended to supplement the old elevated Logan Square branch, but the CTA sought to simplify its routing and saw no need for the old branch's continued existence. The subway opened on February 25, 1951, with a station of its own on Grand Avenue; the old Grand station was then closed along with the others on the affected part of the branch. The station and its trackage remained in non-revenue service until it was demolished and the property sold off in 1964.

Grand was typical of the Metropolitan's stations, with two wooden side platforms and a brick station house at street level. For most of its existence it connected with a streetcar route that reached Navy Pier; both the "L" and streetcar had owl service. After the late 1910s it was also the lowest-ridership station on the Logan Square branch, and one of the least-patronized on the entire "L".