Wednesday, May 15, 2019

CTA Rapid Transit System direct access to Chicago department stores.

The first and most famous such entrance led from the Madison and Wabash CTA station into Carson Pirie Scott & Co., which was the "Schlessinger and Meyer Department Store" in 1900 when the bridge was built. Some referred to it as the “crystal bridge." Architect Louis Sullivan made the bridge every bit as ornate as the store, which of course he also designed.
This is the direct entrance into the 2nd floor of the Marshall Field’s State Street store from the Wabash Avenue elevated 'L' station at Randolph Street. There was also a subway entrance to Field's into the first basement level on the State Street side.
Entrance from the North-South (Red Line) subway to the Pedway and Marshall Field's.
Other department stores and buildings in Chicago's Loop had dedicated entrances from the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) elevated or subway rapid transit stations including Goldblatt’s, Woolworth's, and Sears & Roebuck.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

1 comment:

  1. Besides the Field's (Macy's) subway entrance seen in the photo, are any of the others still open? The Sears store and Goldblatt's (née Rothschild) store buildings are still extant, but they're no longer retail spaces.

    ReplyDelete

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