(Satellite, C&NW used to have a branch that ran all the way to the end of Navy Pier. And this yard used to be between that branch and the river between Dearborn and a Kraft Plant that was west of Rush Street.)
Photos of just the grain elevator that was in this yard have been moved to the Galina Grain Elevator notes.
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| MWRD shared Jeff Bransky Wow. Look at those railroad tracks. Wabash Bridge is the hockey stick shaped road. Jim Jasiota posting Looking west from the Wrigley Building. Chicago, 1954. Photo by Mildred Mead. Jim Mac Donald Before Marina City |
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| Paul Petraitis posted One of my favorite Chicago City Views (as they call them in the print trade) a gorgeous panorama of a smoky downtown looking south on Michigan Avenue across the river in 1925. Look! They're working on Wacker Drive! And what? There's a rail yard west of the Wrigley building? Prints of this spectacular Kaufman & Fabry photo are in several archives inc. CHM, Uof I and I think the Newb...This would make a great banner photo administrators! IMHO (Update: London House has a better exposure of the IC facilities.) [State Street Yard is on the right of this photo along the north side of the Chicago River.] |
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| MWRD posted A northeasterly view of the flooded south cofferdam for construction of the State Street bridge over the Chicago River on April 14, 1902. Dennis DeBruler shared This photo is old enough to show the C&NW freight house and the grain elevator that was in their State Street Yard. We see the Rush Street Bridge because Wabash Avenue has yet to get a bridge. Dennis DeBruler shared with the same description |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on both of his shares The C&NW State Street Yard was along the river between Dearborn Street and the Kraft Plant that was next to the Wrigley building. We can see in this 1938 aerial photo that the freight house and grain elevator are gone. https://clearinghouse.isgs.illinois.edu/webdocs/ilhap/county/data/cook/flight10/0bwq08007.jpg |
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| Eric J. Nordstrom posted original kaufmann and fabry photographic image of downtown chicago's skyline as it appeared in 1928. walter w. ahlschlager's 42-story medinah athletic club (1929) is nearing completion. the building under construction just west of vitzthum, karl, and company's bell building (1924) is holabird and root's chicago motor club building (1928) - i think. courtesy of bldg. 51 archive. Dennis DeBruler posted Eric J. Nordstrom posted this photo with the comment: original kaufmann and fabry photographic image of downtown chicago's skyline as it appeared in 1928. walter w. ahlschlager's 42-story medinah athletic club (1929) is nearing completion. the building under construction just west of vitzthum, karl, and company's bell building (1924) is holabird and root's chicago motor club building (1928) - i think. courtesy of bldg. 51 archive. This is another view of the C&NW State Street Railyard. The grain elevator is gone, but the freight houses still stand. It is always fun to see what advertisement is on the side of the Kraft Plant. In this case, it is Kraft Cheese. The Rush Street Bridge has been replaced by the Michigan Avenue Bridge, but the Wabash Street Bridge has yet to be built. Jason Nanista: I remember seeing these tracks when I was a kid; they continued east under the "old" Sun Times Building and then in the street (lower North Water Street) between the two halves of the Wrigley Building where they ended; this would have been 1992-1993. I know they used to go all the way to Navy Pier. Urban Remains posted original kaufmann and fabry photographic image of downtown chicago's skyline as it appeared in 1928. walter w. ahlschlager's 42-story medinah athletic club (1929) is nearing completion. the building under construction just west of vitzthum, karl, and company's bell building (1924) is holabird and root's chicago motor club building (1928) - i think. courtesy of bldg. 51 archive. Andrew Roth posted C&NW tracks are seen in the curve in the river near where Marina Towers are located in this original kaufmann and fabry photographic image of downtown chicago's skyline as it appeared in 1928. walter w. ahlschlager's 42-story medinah athletic club (1929) is nearing completion. the building under construction just west of vitzthum, karl, and company's bell building (1924) is holabird and root's chicago motor club building (1928) - i think. courtesy of bldg. 51 archive. |
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| Craig Holmberg commented on Dennis' post Sanborn Map Company, Vol. 1, 1906 North And West Division |
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| Craig Holmberg commented on Dennis' post Sanborn Map Company, Vol. 1, 1906 North And West Division |
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| Historic Chicago posted Chicago Skyline (1946) Dennis DeBruler shared This shows the east end of C&NW's State Street Yard. I've seen both 1945 and 1946 as the date for this photo. The yard extended to the West to Dearborn Street. The building between the yard and Wrigley was a Kraft plant. Before Wrigley built his building, the north side of the river was industrial. |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on his share The buildings between the tracks and the river were railroad facilities such as freight houses.1929 Chicago Loop Quadrangle @ 1:24,000 |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on his share Many of those facilities were already torn down when this 1938 photo was taken. |
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| Eric J. Norstrom posted seldom seen original 8 x 10 photographic image of giaver and dinkelberg's jewelers building (1927) with the four corner roof tanks and 17-story tower under construction. the 40-story cream-colored terra cotta building (renamed the pure oil building in 1928) was erected by the starrett-dilks company of chicago. courtesy of bldg. 51 archive. [The buildings that were along the river have been removed to make room for Wacker Drive. And we see the west end of the C&NW State Street Yard on the right.] |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on his share This 1902 photo shows a freight house and a grain elevator in the yard. Note that the freight house served boats instead of horse&wagons. That explains why it was torn down by 1938. This grain elevator disappeared because C&NW built a huge concrete elevator along the Calumet River. I'm reminded that the Wabash and Michigan Avenue Bridges did not exist in 1902. And the Michigan Ave. bridge proceeded the Wrigley and Tribune Buildings. http://galleries.apps.chicagotribune.com/chi-130517-changing-the-course-of-the-chicago-river-pictures/ |
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| Christopher N. Kaufmann commented on Dennis' share It was also heavily populated by the wealthy, like the Sheldon castle at Michigan and Erie before the 1917 street widening. |
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| Larry Candilas commented on Dennis' share Top picture shows Kraft Foods but with a different advertisement, probably a few years earlier. |
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| Jacob Sieg posted Here's a look back on some of the marvelous buildings and structures of Chicago: The Carbide and Carbon Building, Pure Oil Building, Mather Tower, Tribune Tower, Wrigley Building, and the Wabash Avenue Bridge and Drive. Cindy Greenwald: The Wabash Avenue Bridge was built in 1930. The State Street Bridge was begun in 1939 and finished in 1949, due to WWII. This image is probably from the early 30s. Look at the body styling of the cars parked on Wacker Drive. Still squared-off and boxy, and not curvy as they'd have been later on. |
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| US City Views posted Chicago River (1931) In 1931, the Chicago River was a vital artery of commerce and industry, reflecting the city’s economic prowess and architectural grandeur. The riverbanks were lined with towering skyscrapers, warehouses, and docks, bustling with activity as ships and barges transported goods. The iconic bridges that spanned the river, such as the Michigan Avenue Bridge, facilitated the flow of traffic and symbolized Chicago’s engineering ingenuity. Despite the economic challenges of the Great Depression, the river remained a dynamic hub of trade and transportation. Efforts to improve the river’s infrastructure and cleanliness were underway, marking the beginning of its transformation into a more scenic and recreational waterway. Dennis DeBruler shared This is a good view of the C&NW State Street Yard that was on the north side of the Chicago River. It served the Navy Pier Branch. |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on his share That branch handled freight for ocean-going ships at Navy Pier after the St. Lawrence Seaway opened and before containerized shipping was developed. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=342513338927115&set=a.225529053958878 |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on his share There was also sill quite a bit of industry east of Michigan Ave. around the Ogden Slip in the 1960s. The freighter on the north side of the river is probably delivering newsprint to the Chicago Tribune. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10201706543728917&set=gm.10151769030599520 |
I have read that the Sun Times Building was built in the leased air-rights over a railroad yard. I have finally found some photos of that yard. I presume Trump bought the land and forced Sun-Times out when the air-rights lease expired. Since he owned the land, he tore out the tracks. But by this time (building topped out in 2009), all of the industries had moved from the Ogden Slip and the Navy Pier no longer needed rail service. The Jardine Filtration Plant now gets its chlorine from trucks instead of tank cars.
The Kraft plant is at the east end of the yard on the left, the Michigan Avenue Bridge is over the river, and the Mandel Building is on the north side of the river.
By 1953 the picture in CALUMET 412 shows that a lot of the tracks were removed to create a parking lot.
Leonard's comment indicates this view is from a building on Wabash near S. Water. The State and Dearborn bridges look like they are still Scherzer rolling lift bridges. This picture explains why Marina Towers was also built using air-rights.
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| Matt McClure posted Chicago and North Western Navy Pier line next to the Sun-Times Building circa 1969. All of this is long gone: the open space, the line, the C&NW, the building itself. Cool Ford Mustang from the Bullett era. Not my photo; no owner listed. Mark Hershoren shared |
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| Leonard Grossman comment in above posting, 1935-36 |
By 1953 the picture in CALUMET 412 shows that a lot of the tracks were removed to create a parking lot.
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| Leonard Grossman comment in above posting, 1935-36 |
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| 1938 Aerial Photo from ILHAP |
The above aerial photo shows that the yard extended east of the Wabash Avenue to the Kraft Plant that was next to the Wrigley Building. The following 1956 aerial shows That the Kraft building has been removed and the yard has been truncated back to Wabash Avenue to make room for the Sun Times Plant that was competed in 1958. Delivering newsprint to this building was the last revenue service for this C&NW route on the north side of the river.
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| Piere Hamon shared Mike Joyce Wow, the Prudential Building dwarfs them all; in today's skyline, you can barely find it. Now, I realize why they charged me an exorbitant fee to go to the observation deck in 56 or 57. I think it was $1.25 if you were 12 or older, maybe even $1.50. That was a lot of money for a kid back then. Historic Chicago posted Aerial view of Chicago. (1956) |
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| Cropped to original resolution |
I didn't realize that State Street Yard had a freight house until I saw this 1920 photo. Note the Kraft building on the right to correlate this photo with some of the other photos.
I include this picture not because it illustrates the corncob nickname for the building, but because it illustrates the core of the building that provides the strength needed to make the apartments span free. When completed, the towers were the tallest reinforced concrete structures in the world. I read that the owner of the House of Blues Chicago parked his private railway car in the basement of Marina City. Now I understand that the basement was a railroad yard.
The Kraft building is still present and the Sun-Times has yet to be built.
Update: Patrick McNamara identifed this as Mildred Mead's 1954 photo in a comment on Daved Kuntz's posting.
ChicagoLoopBridges also posted this photo with the comment:
This illustration is based on a later view that does include the Sun-Times building.
The black building was built on the little sliver of land between the two bridges. It must have also been built in the air-rights of the yard. According to Google Map, it is The Langham Chicago: "Contemporary, luxury hotel offering lake views, a sleek health club & an upscale restaurant" I knew it as the "IBM Building" that was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. At 52 stories, it was his second tallest building. It was built in 1973, so why it looks done in a 1972 photo is a puzzle. IBM moved to another location in 2006 and Langham remodeled floors 2-13 as a hotel that opened in 2013. In 2013 the American Medical Association move its headquarters and entire workforce to 330 N. Wabash and the building was renamed AMA Plaza. It is the newest building that has been placed on the Chicago Landmark and National Register of Historic Places lists. Because of the curve of the river, the east side rooms have a view of the river and the lake. (Wikipedia)
Glen's comment:
Mike Breski posted four photos with the comment:
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| Cropped from Chicagology |
In fact, if you go back to 1903, the yard had a grain elevator and freight house next to the river.
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| MWRD posted A northeasterly view of the State Street Bridge over the Chicago River on March 1, 1903. |
Paul's photo at the top shows that it still existed in 1925. Other photos in this post show that the freight house was removed by 1935 and the land was used for more tracks.
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| Cropped from Paul's post |
I posted the freight house photos on Facebook.
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| David Daruszka commented on my post |
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| David Daruszka commented on my post |
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| Bob Hendricks posted Barges from New Orleans arriving on the Chicago River with Michigan Ave in the lower right corner, Chicago, Illinois, 1933. (Photo by Underwood Archives/Getty Images) |
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| Urban Remains posted original photographic print of aerial view of downtown chicago taken in the 1930s. courtesy of private collection. [Because of the construction of the Merchandise Mart, the comments date this photo as 1929. Note the lone tank car in the yard near the Kraft Building.] |
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| FLDR |
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| FLDR |
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| Nelson Herrara posted, 1960 |
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| Aerial photo from 1950 for the Metropolitan Planning Council, from FLDR |
Update: Patrick McNamara identifed this as Mildred Mead's 1954 photo in a comment on Daved Kuntz's posting.
ChicagoLoopBridges also posted this photo with the comment:
Nice photo posted by Mark Reiner. Interesting moment in time captured with respect to the visible bridges. The Dearborn St. bridge (foreground) is the rolling lift bridge built in 1907 and the State St. bridge was "new" having opened in May 1949. Fun to see the building housing Harry Caray's steakhouse visible from the river and the rail yards now filled in by Marina City, AMA (IBM) Plaza, Trump Tower, etal. https://www.facebook.com/groups/Historic.Chicago/permalink/799147856938387/
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| Illustration prepared by Bertrand Goldberg Associates, from FLDR |
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Glen Miller posted
Chicago Skyline (1972)
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| Glen Miller posted, 1935 |
A tug boat pulls a ship off Lake Michigan, west along a very cold, ice clogged Chicago River in 1935.Note the yard in the left-middle of the picture on the right.
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| From Calumet412 Untitled, 1926, Chicago. Claude C. de Brueys Collotype, Meriden Gravure Co. |
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| David M Laz posted Looking north in a much earlier Chicago we see the nearest open bridge is the State Street Bridge, the rail yard to its west now Marina City [I wonder which building has the clock tower on the river side. It appears the Merchandise Mart is in the background, so the clock tower would not be the C&NW Station.] |
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| FashionPro [Before the IBM Building and Marina Towers. You can see the "mainline" of the Navy Pier branch.] |
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| Neil Gale posted
Looking east on Carroll Avenue from Clark Street bridge in Chicago towards the London Guarantee Building and Mather Tower in 1954.
Carroll Avenue (328 North) was a ground-level alley just north of the Chicago River and south of Kinzie Street.
[State Street Yard is in the background. Very little of Carrol Ave. is left. Kinzie Street RR Bridge is west of here and provided access to this branch. The branch went all the way to the end of Navy Pier.] |
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| Xavier Quintana posted A Chicago and North Western train sits on Kinzie Street next the Wrigley Building in an undated photo. The train ran on the industrial track alongside Tribune Tower. (Vintage Tribune) David Daruszka The self-propelled Rail Diesel Car (RDC) was introduced in 1949 as a low-cost alternative for branchline and commuter runs, available in five combinations of coach seating and baggage and mail space. Power was provided by two diesel engines and a mechanical drive. Unlike earlier gas-electric "Doodlebugs", multiple RDC's could be coupled and controlled from one cab. The Chicago & North Western purchased three RDC's (9933-9935) to evaluate for local and commuter service. By 1957, C&NW elected to convert to diesel-hauled bi-level commuter trains, and traded all three RDC's to the Chesapeake & Ohio. C&NW 9933 operated on the C&O (as car 9061) and affiliate Baltimore & Ohio (as 1971) until 1984, when it was purchased by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. The car remained in Boston-area commuter service (as MBTA 10) until its retirement and acquisition by IRM. |
Mike Breski posted four photos with the comment:
The old Chicago Sun-Times building stood where the Trump Tower stands today. The Sun-Times facility included a printing plant. Newsprint was delivered by the Chicago & North Western on the Navy Pier Line that ran underneath the Merchandise Mart, under the Sun-Times, and out to Navy Pier.Chris Schultz I loved driving down there, I was a messenger in 1986 and would see the CN boxcars at the dock under the Sun-Times building.
This set of photos shows a C&NW locomotive delivering a boxcar for the Sun-Times printing plant. The middle photo shows the Merchandise Mart (looking west). The Marina City Towers appear above Dearborn Street in the fourth photo (current site of House of Blues).
August 6, 1986
Photos by John Smatlak
https://marmarinou.tumblr.com/tagged/diesel++locomotive/page/13
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| Chicago & North Western Historical Society posted Although you might say that this photo of two iconic Chicago buildings (Wrigley - center, TRIBUNE right) is not a railroad photo, it was taken by the publicity department of the C&NW! Note the area just beyond and to the right of the Michigan Avenue bridge is (now - Pioneer Court). Can you see the freight cards which have been staged for Navy Pier on the rail line which runs under the Wrigley Building? That is the C&NW line from Canal and Kinzie to Navy Pier. We also like the "boat" unloading paper for the SUN TIMES (now - someone's Tower). [It looks like the Tribune Tower has a lot of coal soot on it.] |
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| Maria Canzoneri posted |
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Chicago 1955
Looking east down the Chicago River As a barge inches its way under the bridge From Chicago Past Philip Wizenick That was the largest ship ever to pass through the Chicago River. She was too long for the controlling lock at the lake. She ( I have forgotten the ships name and am too lazy to look it up ) was towed in, the outer gates opened and the tugs strained to pull her against the flood of water from the lake. When she cleared the inner gates, they were closed and she was towed out into the lake. Dennis DeBruler The advertisement on the side of the Kraft building is "Jim Beam." I did not realize whiskey was one of Kraft's products back in 1955. Or maybe Jim Beam was willing to pay a lot of money to use the side of Kraft's building. This is also an excellent view of the C&NW State Street Yard before Marina City bought the air rights. |
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| David Daruszka posted Switcher Saturday. C&NW Alco/General Electric/Ingersol Rand 66 ton 300 HP Box Cab locomotive delivered in 1927 and retired in 1957 (subsequently scrapped). Working in the yards west of the Chicago Loop. Bob Lalich: The location looks to be the west end of State St yard. |
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