Great Central Station


Great Central Station, also known as Great Central Depot, was an intercity train station in Chicago, Illinois owned by the Illinois Central Railroad. It opened in 1856 and for a time was the largest building in downtown Chicago. Its passenger depot building was located on Water Street. In offices above the depot the IC had its headquarters, while beyond the depot was the large rail house where eight track lines ran. It was damaged in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 but remained in operation.
The station proved inadequate to handle growing traffic and its original building was demolished in 1893 in favor of the new Central Station further south. Although it continued to receive some traffic, over-time it increasingly became a commuter rail depot. Millennium Station, formerly Randolph Street Terminal, sits on the location.

Design

The station was designed by Otto H. Matz and included both a head house and a train shed. The most distinctive feature of the train shed was the three masonry arches fronting the wooden structure. Architectural historian Carroll Meeks criticized the front of the head house, calling it an "ill-assorted complex of disparate elements." Carl W. Condit cited the design as an example of vernacular architecture.
The train shed incorporated a Howe truss in its design and measured wide and high. Only Birmingham New Street railway station had a wider roof. On its completion the station was the largest building in Chicago. In 1871 the Great Chicago Fire destroyed the train shed, which was never rebuilt. A subsequent fire in 1874 damaged the head house.

Services

Great Central Station officially opened on June 21, 1856. It was the Illinois Central's first permanent station in Chicago and cost. Originally the Great Central served three railroads: the Illinois Central, which stayed there until the station closed in 1893; the Michigan Central Railroad; and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The Burlington moved to the new Union Depot in 1881. Other railroads which used the station prior to 1871 included the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad and the Chicago and Alton Railroad. The Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway and its predecessors used the depot until 1893.
Traffic peaked at 100 intercity passenger trains per day in the early 1890s, not including suburban trains. The Illinois Central constructed a new facility, Central Station, to meet the traffic demands of the World's Columbian Exposition. That station opened on April 17, 1893, and Great Central was demolished. Suburban trains continued to stop north of Central Station where Millennium Station now stands.