These notes document the older freight houses that Pennsy used when they were using the original Union Station. For the freight houses they used after they moved to the 1925 Union Station, see PRR's Freight Houses.
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| 1915 Smoke Abatement Report |
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| MWRD posted This photo from August 30, 1898, shows where the bypass channel on the South Branch of the Chicago River was to be built in an area west of the Chicago River and under the Metropolitan West Side Elevated railroad bridge. The Sanitary District (now MWRD) developed a plan in 1895 to increase the capacity of the South Branch of the Chicago River to convey the necessary flow of water for the soon-to-open Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. The MWRD deepened and widened the waterway by dredging and replacing docks and bridges, and where bridge replacement was not feasible (roughly between Van Buren St. and Adams St.) the MWRD built a by-pass channel. |
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| MWRD posted on May 23, 2023 A view inside of the bypass channel on the South Branch of the Chicago River, looking north from Van Buren Street, on April 6, 1900. The Sanitary District (now MWRD) developed a plan in 1895 to increase the capacity of the South Branch of the Chicago River to convey the necessary flow of water for the soon-to-open Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. The MWRD deepened and widened the waterway by dredging and replacing docks and bridges, and where bridge replacement was not feasible (roughly between Van Buren and Adams Street) the MWRD built a by-pass channel. Matthew Chapman: So where was this bypass channel built? How deep is it? Does it still exist? Mike Wilk: Matthew Chapman looks like it was under what is now the South platforms of Union Station and no longer in use. Wouldn't be surprised if they just filled it in rather than remove it. https://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/2017/11/chicago-river-bypass-channel-around.html Matthew Chapman: Mike Wilk Thanks for that link, Mike. No time to read it now, I'll check it out later. I love that site, I've seen many fascinating things discussed there. |
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| MWRD posted on Jan 5, 2023 A view from the Jackson Street bridge looking south towards Van Buren on September 5, 1903, showing an area adjacent to and above the bypass channel on the South Branch of the Chicago River. |
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| MWRD posted on Feb 2, 2023 Cofferdam construction for the bypass channel between Van Buren Street and Adams Street along the South Branch of the Chicago River on August 17, 1899, looking north towards the West Side Elevated Railroad Bridge. |
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| MWRD posted Three men pose on a dipper dredge bucket on October 16, 1899, during construction of a bypass channel on the South Branch of the Chicago River between Van Buren St. and Adams St. |
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| MWRD posted Workers pose on a dipper dredge bucket on October 16, 1899, during construction of a bypass channel on the South Branch of the Chicago River between Van Buren St. and Adams St. [I don't think the guys with a coat and tie do much working.] MWRD posted Officials pose with a dipper dredge bucket on the South Branch of the Chicago River on October 16, 1899. The Sanitary District (now MWRD) developed a plan in 1895 to increase the capacity of the South Branch in order to convey the necessary flow of water for the soon-to-open Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. The MWRD deepened and widened the waterway by dredging and replacing docks and bridges, and where bridge replacement was not feasible (roughly between Van Buren Street and Adams Street) the MWRD built a by-pass channel. |
The rolling bridge in the background was the Metropolitan West "L" Bridge that was the first rolling bridge built in 1895. The swing bridge behind the rolling bridge would be the Jackson Boulevard Bridge.
This would be looking north from Van Buren Street. Underneath the L Bridge, we can see that Jackson was still a swing bridge. Since a boat can be only as wide as one side of the swing bridge, they saved money by building the rolling bridge over just the east channel. So the river is less than half its normal width and would have an excessive current with the increased flow desired to flush sewage down the new Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CS&SC). I added a red line below to show where I think they dug the new channel west of the west pier of the L Bridge and the center pivot pier of the swing bridge.
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| Martin Sorenson posted Chicago circa 1907. "Jack-Knife Bridge, Chicago River." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative by Hans Behm, Detroit Publishing Company. |
This would be looking north from Van Buren Street. Underneath the L Bridge, we can see that Jackson was still a swing bridge. Since a boat can be only as wide as one side of the swing bridge, they saved money by building the rolling bridge over just the east channel. So the river is less than half its normal width and would have an excessive current with the increased flow desired to flush sewage down the new Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CS&SC). I added a red line below to show where I think they dug the new channel west of the west pier of the L Bridge and the center pivot pier of the swing bridge.
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| Above picture plus Paint |
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| MWRD posted Construction of the west abutment for the Jackson Boulevard Bridge; viewed from the northwest corner looking south down the South Branch of the Chicago River on February 19, 1915. The bascule style bridge was built by the Sanitary District (now MWRD) in 1915. Dennis DeBruler: I'm trying to figure out if the open channel in the middle of the photo was the bypass channel. We can see the Metropolitan West Bridge in the background. |
In this 1950s view we can see the bypass channel behind the green tree in the lower-left corner.
Note that by 1950 the Jackson Bridge has been replaced by a trunnion bascule bridge. So the "L" Bridge now significantly reduces the new width of the navigational channel. That would explain why it was quickly removed after the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin interuban stopped passenger service in 1957 and the Douglas subway was built.
In this 1938 aerial, the shadow of the post office obscures the layout of the river.
The Pennsy tracks using the original shoreline explains why only the east side of Jackson Boulevard Bridge was used. This would be a choke point on the river for navigation. Boats travelling in both directions would have to share the single channel.
(Update 2023: I wonder if this is the Adams Street Bridge instead of the Jackson Street Bridge. We are looking north because of the Old Union Station in the background. But if we are looking North, Jackson Street should be obstructed by the Met "L" Bridge. And we should see the Pennsy freighthouse per the photo above.)
Chicago had already reversed the flow of the river in 1871 when it deepened the Indiana & Michigan Canal to its original design of a deep cut. But that canal was too small to remove the wastes from the river.
The towns downstream did not suffer as they feared when the CS&SC canal opened and a significant flow of water went down the Des Plaines and Illinois Rivers. Even St. Louis feared the impact of receiving Chicago's waste. Furthermore, Chicago pioneered the development of water treatment plants. [ChicagoTribune]
Other towns along the Great Lakes in the USA and Canada felt that Chicago was robbing the lakes of water. So in 1967 the flow was restricted to 3200 cubic feet per second. This is why there are now locks at the mouth of the river. [Wikipedia]. A few decades later, the height of Lake Michigan was becoming very high. The other towns asked Chicago to open up their locks and allow a maximum flow down the river and canal. But Chicago refused because the higher currents would impact the barge traffic and because scientists were learning that the river's flow has very little impact on the Great Lakes' water level compared to the amount of precipitation in the watershed of the lakes.
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| Darla Zailskas posted |
In this 1938 aerial, the shadow of the post office obscures the layout of the river.
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| 1938 Aerial Photo from ILHAP |
The Pennsy tracks using the original shoreline explains why only the east side of Jackson Boulevard Bridge was used. This would be a choke point on the river for navigation. Boats travelling in both directions would have to share the single channel.
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| MWRD posted The Sanitary District (now MWRD) completed a plan in 1895 to increase the capacity of the South Branch of the Chicago River in order to convey the necessary flow of water for the soon-to-open Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. The MWRD deepened and widened the waterway by dredging and replacing docks and bridges, and where bridge replacement was not feasible (roughly between Van Buren St. and Adams St.) the MWRD built a by-pass channel. In this photo dated September 18, 1899, engineers and workers pose with a steel plate girder for the roof of the bypass channel. Bob Lalich I'm having difficulty imagining a bypass channel with a roof. Part of the river flows through a tunnel between Van Buren and Adams? Dennis DeBruler Yes. Or more accurately, did flow. The building of the current Union Station and/or the straightening of the river completely changed the banks of the river in this area.The Bypass Channel went under the Pennsy tracks and part of their freight house. On Page 229 of Richard Lanyon's "Building the Canal to Save Chicago" book as part of the description of the substructure contract: "dismantling a portion of a freight house and re-erecting the freight house upon completion of the Bypass Channel; truncating the corner of an office building and rebuilding the exterior and interior walls; and restoration of all roadway paving." On Page 230 as part of the description of the superstructure contract: "Material specifications adopted from the Pennsylvania Company were included for the structural steel and other metals used." All 11 photographs at the end of Chapter 9, Chicago River Improvement, show the construction of the Bypass Channel. The photographs indicate that all of the tracks between the freight house and the river, as well as part of the freight house itself, were held up by steel beams. Dennis DeBruler I just discovered the book's photos are online: https://www.everythinggoesmedia.com/building-canal-photos... Bob Lalich Thanks Dennis! I never noticed this before but it is apparent now looking at maps of the area in that time frame. I have that book on my wish list. MWRD posted (same description as above) MWRD posted |
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| David Daruszka commented on MWRD's posting That's Old Union Station's roof in the background. Dennis DeBruler You saved me the effort of verifying that roof line was for the Old Union Station, |
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| MWRD posted A construction site for the bypass channel on November 10, 1899. MWRD posted Construction of a bypass channel on the South Branch of the Chicago River between Van Buren St. and Adams St. on November 10, 1899. In order to increase the capacity of the Chicago River to convey the required flow for the soon-to-open Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, the bypass channel was built and portions of the river were widened, straightened and/or deepened. MWRD posted The Sanitary District (now MWRD) developed a plan in 1895 to increase the capacity of the South Branch of the Chicago River to convey the necessary flow of water for the soon-to-open Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. The MWRD deepened and widened the waterway by dredging and replacing docks and bridges, and where bridge replacement was not feasible (roughly between Van Buren and Adams Streets) the MWRD built a by-pass channel. Today's photo shows a construction site for the bypass channel on November 10, 1899. |
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| MWRD posted on Sep 29, 2022 The Sanitary District (now MWRD) developed a plan in 1895 to increase the capacity of the South Branch of the Chicago River to convey the necessary flow of water for the soon-to-open Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. The MWRD deepened and widened the waterway by dredging and replacing docks and bridges, and where bridge replacement was not feasible (roughly between Van Buren and Adams Streets) the MWRD built a by-pass channel. Today's photo shows a construction site for the bypass channel on November 10, 1899. MWRD posted |
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| MWRD posted A view to the south from the Adams Street bridge on May 10, 1904, showing the Pennsylvania railroad tracks on the west side of the South Branch of the Chicago River, with the Jackson Street and Metropolitan West Side elevated railroad bridges visible in the background. The inlet to the bypass tunnel, which had been built by the Sanitary District to accommodate increased flow of water through the Chicago River to the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, is at left below the railing. Alex Machinis: Wow, great image. The two tall buildings to the left resemble 311 S Wacker and Sears Tower. Foreshadowing of Chicago's tall building future... Dennis DeBruler: Alex Machinis I think those "tall buildings" were smokestacks. A lot of the industrial world was still steam powered in 1904. Greg Burnet shared |
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| WTTW [The roof of the original Union Station is peaking over the Pennsy freight house. It looks like they are building the "ceiling" of the bypass tunnel in the right foreground. (Update: They are building a bridge abutment for the Jackson Boulevard Bridge. [MWRD])] |
The Pennsy evidently had more than one freight house along the river. Here we see a freight house between The Met and Van Buren Street and the outlet of the bypass channel.
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| MWRD posted on Mar 1, 2023 A view looking north from the roof of a building on Van Buren Street, showing a Metropolitan Elevated Rail bridge and the South Branch of the Chicago River on September 1, 1903. Phil Schwartz: So that plank road in the foreground would be the future Wacker Drive? Dennis DeBruler: Phil Schwartz No. This view is looking North and that road goes up to connect with Van Buren Street. The Bypass Channel goes under that road. This area has changed a lot. The Met "L" Bridge is gone. And the Pennsylvania freight house was acquired in 1911 so that the river could be widened here. This 1915 map shows that the river was narrow in this area in 1903. https://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/2017/11/chicago-river-bypass-channel-around.html Greg Burnet shared MWRD posted A view looking north from the roof of a building on Van Buren Street showing a Metropolitan Elevated Rail bridge and the South Branch of the Chicago River on September 1, 1903. Bettie Pagett Is that Garfield Park Line? Dennis DeBruler It was. That bridge used to carry all of the Metropolitan's lines: Logan Square Humboldt Park Garfield Park Douglas Park https://www.chicago-l.org/operations/lines/garfield.html Dennis DeBruler I presume that the access road is built over the bypass channel and that the channel's outlet is further downstream. Tom Skowronski Ya got me there, Dennis. Access channel? I'm not that familiar with river stuff before the straightening period. Dennis DeBruler Tom Skowronski https://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/.../chicago-river... Dennis DeBruler shared That is the Metropolitan Elevated Rail bridge and a Pennsy freight house. https://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/…/metropolitan-l-bri… https://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/…/chicago-river-bypa… |
(Update 2023: I wonder if this is the Adams Street Bridge instead of the Jackson Street Bridge. We are looking north because of the Old Union Station in the background. But if we are looking North, Jackson Street should be obstructed by the Met "L" Bridge. And we should see the Pennsy freighthouse per the photo above.)
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Pavel Bv posted
Former Jackson Street Swing Bridge, 1892. “Union Depot” rail yard on the front left.
Dennis DeBruler shared
Some of us have discussed the bypass channel that MWRD had to dig under Pennsy's freighthouse and tracks to increase the flow of the Chicago River when they reversed the flow: https://www.facebook.com/MetropolitanWaterReclamationDistrict/posts/1938687686222443This view provides a good perspective of why that bypass was needed. I'm still trying to figure out the history of the dredging of the Chicago River and its branches. But this photo shows that Pennsy's Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago railroad built here before the river was dredged to its current width. We can see the PFT&C freight house just north of the west end of the bridge. (The hipped roof building in the background was the original Union Station.) Most of the river is wide enough that both sides of the swing bridges can be used. But here the Pennsy beat them to the land on the west side of the river and only the east side of the bridge is usable by ships. The MWRD bypass channel was a tunnel under the west span so that the river's flow would not be pinched down to just one side of the bridge. |
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| MWRD posted A view from the Jackson St. bridge in Chicago looking southwest on April 27, 1904, at 9:55 a.m. This area was originally property of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and was acquired by the Sanitary District (now MWRD) in order to deepen and widen the South Branch of the Chicago River. MWRD posted a lighter exposure Railyards and the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad Bridge on the west side of the South Branch of the Chicago River, viewed from the Jackson Street Bridge on April 27, 1904. The roadway and the area in the foreground was located on top of the bypass channel that had been built by the Sanitary District to accommodate increased flow of water through the Chicago River to the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. |
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| MWRD posted This photo from August 30, 1898, shows where the bypass channel on the South Branch of the Chicago River was to be built in an area west of the Chicago River and under the Metropolitan West Side Elevated railroad bridge. The Sanitary District (now MWRD) developed a plan in 1895 to increase the capacity of the South Branch of the Chicago River in order to convey the necessary flow of water for the soon-to-open Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. The MWRD deepened and widened the waterway by dredging and replacing docks and bridges, and where bridge replacement was not feasible (roughly between Van Buren St. and Adams St.) the MWRD built a by-pass channel. |
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| Dennis DeBruler posted an ECC link The north end of Pennsy's freight house, the Old Union Station in the background and Adams Street Bridge on the right. And people swimming in the river in an annual celebration of how clean it has become since it was reversed in 1900 and of the reduction of commercial traffic. (Industry and the big boats were moving to Calumet River.) |
Pennsy definitely had more than one freight house along the west side of the South Branch. 1903 is a couple of decades before the "new" Union Station was built. Given that this building was north of the old Union Station, I think this freight house was for the Panhandle.
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| MWRD posted A view of the South Branch of the Chicago River and the Pennsylvania Railroad Company freight office, looking south from Madison Street in Chicago on September 29, 1903. [I commented on this post.] Marty Gatton shared MWRD posted on Dec 18, 2022 MWRD posted A view of the South Branch of the Chicago River and the Pennsylvania Railroad Company freight office, looking south from Madison Street in Chicago on September 29, 1903. |
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| Brendon Baillod posted Here's a nice early Chicago card that came in last week. It is a hand-colored, undivided back rotograph postcard manufactured in Germany. It was used postally in 1907 and shows a view of the Chicago River, although I'm not sure exactly where. A sizeable three-masted lumber schooner is shown with her sails dropped but unfurled and ready for action. An interesting clue is the Adam's Express Company billboard on the left just behind the schooner's mainmast. Unfortunately, the colorist who enhanced the card didn't preserve the schooner's nameboard. It's probably not possible to make an ID, but I'd welcome input on where on the River this view might be (e.g. which bridge is in the distance.) [From Brendon's private collection. It is used with permission.] Brendon Baillod shared |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on Brendon's share This reminds me of the South Branch. It was lined with tall brick buildings on the east bank and short railroad buildings on the west side. The attached photo makes me think we are looking at the Madison Street Bridge. Photo was posted by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago with the comment: "Historical Photo of the Day: A view of the South Branch of the Chicago River and the Pennsylvania Railroad Company freight office, looking south from Madison Street in Chicago on September 29, 1903." Also, the river bends slightly to the right south of Madison Street, which is consistent with the postcard. |
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| MWRD posted The South Branch of the Chicago River on June 15, 1911, viewed looking north from Jackson Boulevard towards the Adams Street Bridge. In the left background is the roof of the 1881 Union Station. The freight cars on the left are setting on the bypass channel that MWRD built because, as we can see with the pier, Pennsy's land extended halfway into the river back then and blocked the river's flow. |
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| MWRD posted The South Branch of the Chicago River is seen from the Harrison Street Bridge, looking north, on September 15, 1919. The building at center and to the left of the "Lee Union-Alls" billboard is the Union Loop powerhouse, which the Sanitary District had acquired from the Northwestern Elevated Railroad Company and was demolishing in order to widen the river to a uniform width of 200 feet. [In this view we can see the outlet of the bypass channel to the left of the Van Buren Street Bridge.] MWRD posted |
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| MWRD posted on May 22, 2023 Demolition of the Union Loop Power House on the South Branch of the Chicago River between Harrison Street and Van Buren Street on October 17, 1919. The Sanitary District acquired the property from the Northwestern Elevated Railroad Company and was demolishing it to widen the river. |
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| MWRD posted Removal of remaining spoil from the demolition of the Union Loop Powerhouse just south of Van Buren on the South Branch of the Chicago River on April 9, 1920. |
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| MWRD posted on Apr 8, 2023 A view of remaining spoil from the demolition of the Union Loop Powerhouse just south of Van Buren on the South Branch of the Chicago River on May 26, 1920. The Sanitary District (now MWRD) acquired the Union Loop Power House from the Northwestern Elevated Railroad Company and was demolishing it in order to widen the river to a uniform width of 200 feet. |
Chicago had already reversed the flow of the river in 1871 when it deepened the Indiana & Michigan Canal to its original design of a deep cut. But that canal was too small to remove the wastes from the river.
The towns downstream did not suffer as they feared when the CS&SC canal opened and a significant flow of water went down the Des Plaines and Illinois Rivers. Even St. Louis feared the impact of receiving Chicago's waste. Furthermore, Chicago pioneered the development of water treatment plants. [ChicagoTribune]
Other towns along the Great Lakes in the USA and Canada felt that Chicago was robbing the lakes of water. So in 1967 the flow was restricted to 3200 cubic feet per second. This is why there are now locks at the mouth of the river. [Wikipedia]. A few decades later, the height of Lake Michigan was becoming very high. The other towns asked Chicago to open up their locks and allow a maximum flow down the river and canal. But Chicago refused because the higher currents would impact the barge traffic and because scientists were learning that the river's flow has very little impact on the Great Lakes' water level compared to the amount of precipitation in the watershed of the lakes.
It'd be helpful to be able to see the outline of the channel drawn over an old map. I've never been able to find a clear map of its route. In any case, I'm pretty sure the bypass channel just became a part of the widened river in the 1920's.
ReplyDeleteOkay, so the remnants of part of the Bypass Channel can indeed still be seen in the current river just off the bank from 300 South Riverside Plaza. Wasn't originally sure of what that structure was. Looks like it's western wall is still used for a lane of traffic. The inlet would have been immediately north of Jackson Boulevard Bridge, and the outlet appears to have been immediately under the bridge pier of the Van Buren Bridge.
DeleteI'm a bit unsure of what you're unsure about from the picture posted by the MWRD on Mar 1, 2023, particularly since you report it just a few pictures down. The bridge pictured is the "L" bridge, with the trusses passing above the railroad (and underground bypass channel) with the bridges "center" pier in the center of the picture. Bascule bridge, which was the part that actually cleared the constricted river, is pictured to the right.
Oh, I see the comment you made was attached to the 1892 photo. That's definitely the Jackson Boulevard swing bridge. As you can see in this picture of the Adams Street swing bridge to the north, the Adams one continue directly south of the station:
Deletehttps://historicbridges.org/illinois/adams/ccp_adams.jpg
So, either the 1892 photo pictured is FROM the "L" bridge, or it hasn't been built yet, and it'd almost have to be the latter since this clearly looks like it was taken from the Van Buren Street bridge given the distance/perspective in the shot.
Okay, the "L" wasn't built until 1895, so then you have to disregard my last message. So the title on the photo is correct: we're looking from the Van Buren Street Bridge at the old Jackson Street Bridge before their reconstructions as bascule bridges to aid in Sanitary District's project to increase river flow for sanitation and increase clearances for for navigation.
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