.jpg) Van Buren Street under theLoop Elevated at State Street | |
| Location | Villa Park,Bellwood,Maywood,Oak Park,Chicago |
|---|---|
| West end | Ardmore Avenue inVilla Park |
| East end | Michigan Avenue/Congress Plaza Drive inChicago |
Van Buren Street is a street in Chicago, in whose grid system it is 400 South. Named for PresidentMartin Van Buren, it is adjacent toJackson Boulevard named for Van Buren's associateAndrew Jackson.
TheVan Buren Street Bridge carries it across theChicago River.
The southern leg ofthe Loop is located over Van Buren Street.
TheMetropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad, a founding company of what would become theChicago "L", constructed itsmain line – which would later extend west from the Loop – andGarfield Park branch adjacent to Van Buren Street in 1895. When these were demolished to make way for the Congress Superhighway in the 1950s, the successorCongress Line was built in their place in the median of the highway.
Ahorsecar ran on Van Buren street until it was electrified in 1896. As of 1896 it proceeded west fromState Street to Kedzie Street.[1] This streetcars was a competitor to the Metropolitan, siphoning many of its would-be passengers during the warm summer months as its cars were more open-air.[2] As of 1928, the Van Buren route had owl service between 1:03 and 4:42 a.m., where cars ran on intervals varying between 15, 24, and 30 minutes.[3] On October 11, 1937, the Van Buren route was through-routed with streetcar service onDivision Street, about two miles (3.2 km) miles to the north, via downtown. This continued until Division Street service was replaced by buses and Van Buren streetcars were once again independent on February 4, 1951. This was short-lived, however, as buses replaced streetcars on Van Buren on August 12, 1951.[1]
Media related toVan Buren Street (Chicago) at Wikimedia Commons