The Chicago ‘L’ has been winding its way through the city’s alleys and rumbling past windows for well more than a century. For many Chicagoans, it’s part of everyday life. But it wasn’t always the system people know today – or even known by the same name.
The first L lines were privately owned and operated as separate companies. In 1892, according to CTA historian and expert Graham Garfield, who tracks the extensive history of the ‘L’ in great detail on Chicago-L.org, the Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad began operating the first elevated train. A steam locomotive pulled wooden coaches between terminals at Congress Street and what is now Pershing Road. The tracks plotted a 3.6-mile line adjacent to alleys, so it was dubbed the “Alley ‘L.’” The Green Line still uses those tracks today. Service was extended to 63rd Street in Jackson Park to serve the World’s Colombian Exposition.
Another steam-powered elevated railroad known as the Lake Street Line began operating between what is now Laramie Avenue on the West Side and the edge of downtown in 1893. This is today’s Green Line to Oak Park.
The Metropolitan West Side Elevated was the third ‘L’ company to open, but the first to use electric technology. Its main line began operating in 1895, starting at Franklin Street and branching in three separate directions toward Garfield Park, Douglas Park, and Logan Square.
Portions of these tracks are today’s Blue and Pink Lines.
