Chaddick Institute Terminal Town Walking Tour on Sunday, October 27, 2019
by Staff


Matthew Kaplan

A sold-out grouped joined the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University and Forgotten Chicago as we celebrated the fifth anniversary of the Terminal Town festival and Chicago’s role as one of the world’s premier passenger transportation centers on Sunday, October 27, 2019. This all-new, three-hour walking tour explored extant and former sites of some of Chicago’s most important transportation terminals.


Top: Railway Age, 1948 Bottom: Matthew Kaplan

Starting just north of the Chicago River, the tour visited the early locations of the Chicago & North Western Railway’s terminals, including the possible location of a forgotten 1948 time capsule marking the railroad’s centennial, purportedly just north of the current Cassidy Tire Company. We also explored the current C&NW station (Ogilvie Transportation Center), the revitalized Great Hall of Union Station, the site of the former Loop Greyhound station (1954-1989), and much more!


Chicago & Northwestern Railway, 1899

The Terminal Town Tour featured handouts utilizing some of Forgotten Chicago’s enormous collection of images, articles and ephemera, including this C&NW map found during a 2019 research visit for this tour at the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison.


Top: Architectural Record, 1954 Bottom: Matthew Kaplan

Improbably located for 35 years at the northeast corner of Randolph and Clark Streets in the very heart of the Loop, Chicago’s Greyhound Station is perhaps the most forgotten transportation terminal in Chicago history. A sophisticated multi-level design by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, this terminal funneled all buses under the Loop in a private tunnel to Lower Wacker Drive, and would become notorious in later years as a hub of vice and crime until its closing in 1989.


Matthew Kaplan

The tour began at the Merchandise Mart and ended at historic Dearborn Station, Chicago’s oldest remaining former Loop railroad terminal. After the tour, participants had the opportunity to speak with Joe Schwieterman, Ph.D., author of Terminal Town and Director of the Chaddick Institute. Attendees were also able to purchase an autographed copy of the Terminal Town book (indispensible in any Chicago reference library) at a special price.


Matthew Kaplan

Many thanks to those who joined us!

Read More

This article was last updated on Monday, October 7th, 2019 at 3:37 pm.