Oak Park station (CTA Douglas branch)

Oak Park was a rapid transit station on the Chicago "L", where it was the westernmost extension of the Douglas Park branch in the suburb of Berwyn, from 1924 to 1952. Although the branch had originally been constructed starting from 1896 by the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad Company, it did not reach Oak Park until March 16, 1924, by which time the Metropolitan had been subsumed by the Chicago Rapid Transit Company (CRT). Plans to extend the branch as far west as Harlem Avenue were made by the Metropolitan but were never done as development never justified it.

OAK PARK   6800W 2200S
Former Chicago 'L' rapid transit station
The location of the station, in between the small brick building behind the Burger King and the larger brick building behind it, in 2023
General information
Location	Berwyn, Illinois
Coordinates	41.8512°N 87.7933°W / 41.8512; -87.7933
Owned by	Chicago Transit Authority (1947–1952) Chicago Rapid Transit Company (1924–1947)
Line(s)	Douglas branch
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
History
Opened	March 16, 1924
Closed	February 3, 1952
Former services
Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station Terminus Douglas branch Ridgeland toward Marshfield
Location

The terminal building itself was a simple clapboard frame structure with a peaked roof on an island platform, with the tracks on either side ending abruptly.^[1]

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) assumed operations of the "L" in 1947, and sought to streamline. In mid-1951, it proposed trimming the Douglas branch and instituting skip-stop on December 9 in concert with other reforms such as the discontinuation of the Westchester branch. Berwyn and adjacent Cicero sued the CTA and got an injunction to stop the branch reduction, but the matter was resolved in the CTA's favor and the branch was cut back to 54th/Cermak on February 3, 1952.^[1]

References

1. Garfield, Graham. "Oak Park". Chicago-L.org. Retrieved August 25, 2023.