Harlem
 
7200W
700S
Chicago 'L' rapid transit station
Looking down the platform. The tracks to the left belong to the Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad with a pair of hopper cars at the Ferrara Candy Company also to the left.
General information
Location701 South Harlem Avenue
Forest Park, Illinois 60130
Coordinates41°52′25″N 87°48′25″W / 41.87349°N 87.806961°W / 41.87349; -87.806961
Owned byChicago Transit Authority
Line(s)Forest Park Branch
Platforms1 island platform
Tracks2
Construction
Structure typeExpressway median
History
OpenedMarch 20, 1960 (1960-03-20)[1][2]
Passengers
2022131,278[3] Decrease 3.2%
Services
Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station
Forest Park
Terminus
 Blue Line
 Oak Park
toward O'Hare
Former services
Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station
Hannah
toward Des Plaines
 Garfield Park branch Home
toward Marshfield
Preceding station Chicago Terminal Transfer Railroad Following station
Forest Home
toward Thatcher's Park
 Chicago & Northern Pacific – Main Line Kirwin
toward Chicago
Location

Harlem is a station on the 'L' system, serving the Blue Line's Forest Park branch in Forest Park, Illinois. The station was built with an auxiliary entrance at Circle Avenue that was eventually converted to an single turnstile facility. The Circle Avenue entrance reopened as an auxiliary entrance/exit on September 26, 2009, at 4 PM.[4] To the south of the station is the Ferrara Candy Company (formerly Ferrara Pan [the "Pan" part of the name was dropped in 2012.) A Roos chest-making factory was located west of the station and Circle Avenue until it was torn down in 2013 to make way for a new recreation park that opened there in 2018. The Roos company closed for good in 1951.

Harlem opened in 1960 and is composed of a main entrance on Harlem Avenue and an auxiliary entrance on Circle Avenue, providing access to the station's platform. Harlem is open 24/7 365 days a year as part of the overnight service of the Blue Line and an annual total of 346,005 passengers have boarded the station in 2012.[5] The station is not to be confused with the Blue Line's other station on Harlem Avenue that is located on the Kennedy Expressway portion of the line connections.

History

Wisconsin Avenue station (AE&C, 1902–1905)

The Aurora Elgin and Chicago Railway (AE&C) began service on August 25, 1902, and opened a station on Wisconsin Avenue by October. The Garfield Park branch, opened by the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad in 1895, abutted the AE&C's line and took over local service in the area on March 11, 1905. Rather than continue using the Wisconsin Avenue station, the Metropolitan decided to open two stations in the vicinity, one at Harlem and the other at Home Avenue.[6]

Garfield Park station (1905–1958)

The Garfield Park branch continued until it was replaced by the Congress Line in 1958.

Blue Line station (1960–present)

The current Blue Line Harlem station opened in 1960.

Bus Connections

Pace

  • 307 Harlem

See also

References

  1. ↑ "CTA to Open New Congress Right of Way". Chicago Daily Tribune. March 20, 1960. p. W3.
  2. ↑ "Congress CTA on Permanent Right of Way". Chicago Daily Tribune. March 20, 1960. p. 25.
  3. ↑ "Annual Ridership Report – Calendar Year 2022" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority, Ridership Analysis and Reporting. February 2, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Changes to Circle Avenue Exit at the Harlem Station on Forest Park Branch" (Press release). CTA. 2009-09-25.
  5. ↑ "2012 Annual Ridership Report" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority. transitchicago.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 4, 2018. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Wisconsin Avenue". GreatThirdRail.org. Retrieved 22 February 2023.

Media related to Harlem (CTA Blue Line Congress branch) at Wikimedia Commons

The station from the Circle Avenue overpass.
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