Central Station (Chicago terminal)

Central Station
1911 Central Station and Illinois Central offices
General information
Architectural style	Romanesque Revival
Coordinates	41°52′05″N 87°37′19″W / 41.86806°N 87.62194°W / 41.86806; -87.62194Coordinates: 41°52′05″N 87°37′19″W / 41.86806°N 87.62194°W / 41.86806; -87.62194
Opened	April 17, 1893
Closed	March 5, 1972
Demolished	June 3, 1974
Design and construction
Architect	Bradford L. Gilbert

Central Station was an intercity passenger terminal in downtown Chicago, Illinois, at the southern end of Grant Park near Roosevelt Road and Michigan Avenue. Owned by the Illinois Central Railroad, it also served other companies via trackage rights. It opened in 1893, replacing Great Central Station (on the site of the current Millennium Station), and closed in 1972 when Amtrak rerouted services to Union Station. The station building was demolished in 1974. It is now the site of a redevelopment called Central Station, Chicago.

Adjoining platforms served the suburban trains of the Illinois Central, electrified in 1926 (now called the Metra Electric Line), and the South Shore Line interurban railroad. Both lines continued north to Randolph Street.

The Romanesque Revival structure, designed by Bradford L. Gilbert and built by the Illinois Central Railroad, opened April 17, 1893 to meet the traffic demands of the World's Columbian Exposition. The nine-story building featured a 13-story clock tower and housed the general offices of the railroad. It boasted the largest train shed in the world at the time, which measured 140 by 610 feet.