The development and abandonment of Chicago’s many transportation systems has led to the
city having some of the most mysterious forgotten tunnels, deep below the towering skyline.
Today, We examine a few, hidden under the river that were built centuries prior to accomidate
horse carts and pedestrians, but later were converted for street cars and now have all
been left to rot.
I’m your host Ryan Socash and You are watching it’s history
There was a time when Chicago was home to one of the largest and most profitable networks
of cable cars in America.
However, this was the effect of a gradual evolution that also leed the city to having
some of the most advance infostructure technology.
Its safe to say that the infostructure required to achieve such a feat was seeded all the
way back when people and goods were still moving by horse and carriage, and a major
choke point to those logistics was always the Chicago river.
When it wasn’t poisoning the citys water supply, or breaking world records by being
engineered to run in revers – it was blocking traffic in a majoy way.
So when the town was growing, urban planners-built bridges to guide traffic across the river,
anyone whose been to Chicago has surely noticed the famous bascule draw bridges, which were
built in the mid nineteenth century.
But this solved very little - You see, Most bridges remained constantly open due to port
traffic, so if you were traveling by horse and carriage, you would often have to wait
for long periods of time for the bridge to close.
Therefore, city planners decided to build tunnels under the river, serving as a way
for pedestrians and wagon traffic to travel to reach the other side of town without delay.
It was these tunnels intended for passage by foot or horses that eventually became the
tunnels used for street cars.
They ran under the river at Washington and at LaSalle, opening in 1869 and 1871 respectively,
and later an additional tunnel was build at Van Buren St.
Illustrations from that time depict the tunnels as being made of three brick-lined archways.
The first two passages were for wagons and the third for pedestrians.
When the LaSalle Street tunnel opened in 1871, not only did it help alleviate traffic, but
it also helped residents escape the Great Chicago Fire only a few months after.
So, When Cable cars were introduced to Chicago in 1882, these tunnels were an obvious solution
to get the town moving.
It was also a perfect opportunity to utilized a somewhat disliked amenity of the city.
Pedestrians often complained about the leaky conditions of the tunnel, and carriages couldn’t
always use them because their inclines were too steep.
The only obstruction to making them into full-fledged cable car tunnels was that they were too small
to accommodate the cable cars themselves.
So the city planned a massive renovation digging the tunnels deeper underground and making
them wider.
This was a risky feet considering the tunnels precarious location underneath a massive body
of water.
However, the renovations were successful, and the new tunnels sat at a similar depth
as the current CTA subway tunnels do today.
Let’s have a look at the tunnels individually:
The Washington St. tunnel was Originally built for pedestrians and horse-drawn traffic, and
this was the first such tunnel that ran under the river proper.
Construction began in 1867 and it opened January 1, 1869, but it wasn't successful.
The approach grades were too steep for horses, it leaked, and it was dark and uncomfortable
for pedestrians, by 1884 it had been closed as unsafe.
However, the tunnel saw its reresection In 1888 when the West Chicago Street Railroad
Co. began to rehabilitate it.
On August 12, 1890, cable car service began and continued until August 19, 1906.
The east approach began in the middle of the road just west of Franklin street and the
track descended and was covered.
West of the river the approach climbed, and the track came to street level just east of
Clinton.
The tunnel, including the approaches, was 1,605 feet or 489 m long.
After closing in 1906, a wider and deeper replacement was built under the original and
the approaches were deepened to the new lower level.
The grades were aligned for the cars to enter a shallow subway just below street level,.
The Washington tunnel opened to electric streetcar service on January 29, 1911 and was in regular
use until 1953.
Although the tunnel was retied long ago – it was sealed permanently in 2013 with both approachs
being covered.
Moving on to The LaSalle St. tunnel which was also originally built for pedestrians
and horse-drawn traffic.
Construction started right after the Washington St. tunnel was finished and although it had
a different design, it faced the same problems.
The approach grades were steep for horses, it leaked, and it was dark and uncomfortable
for pedestrians.
In 1888 the North Chicago Street Railroad leased the tunnel and began to rehabilitate
it.
On March 23, 1888, cable service began and continued until October 21, 1906, when it
was closed for lowering.
The north approach began in the middle of the street just north of Hubbard St.
Under the river the tunnel had two horse and one pedestrian masonry arch lanes.
South of the river the approach climbed, and the track came to street level just north
of Randolph St. The tunnel, including the approaches, was 1,887 feet or 575 m) long.
The tunnel was opened to electric streetcar service on July 21, 1912.
It was in regular service until November 27, 1939, when it was closed during the construction
of the Milwaukee-Lake-Dearborn-Congress subway, the Lake & LaSalle - now Clark & Lake) station
of which intersected the tunnel's south ramp under Lake Street.
As of 1954, the north tunnel portal was still exisistant, but both approaches are now filled
in, although the tunnel itself still exists under the river.
A ramp in the middle of LaSalle St. south of Kinzie St., an access down to Carroll Ave.,
is sometimes mistaken for the north portal, which was a block north and aligned below
the current ramp.
Finally there was the Van Buren St. tunnel.
The last of the three to be built, and the only one built privately specifically for
cable cars.
Construction began in 1890 but progress was slow.
Cable service started on March 24, 1894 and ended on July the 22nd, 1906.
The east approach began at Franklin Street, Unlike the city-owned tunnels, it didn't go
under the street itself, but 150 feet north of and parallel.
This meant the cars had to slow down, turn north on Franklin, then immediately turn west
into a driveway to the approach.
It was a stone walled 30-foot-wide ramp which descended at 12% for 150 feet before being
covered under an alley.
As the shortest tunnel it had the steepest grade.
Under the river the tunnel had a single two-lane arched roof.
West of the river the approach climbed to Clinton St. where the line had to turn south.
Because of the entrances and steep approaches, the tunnel
always had operating problems.
The tunnel, including the approaches, was 1,514 feet long.
In 1910, a deeper replacement was built thru the original tunnel and opened to electric
streetcar service.
Only to Close again in 1915 for construct approaches to Union Station, the tunnel reopened
in 1916.
Ultimately it the Van buren tunnel was closed Closed to regular service in 1924, but used
on occasion as late as 1952, when all service ended.
As technology advanced, so did the railway system.
The private cable car company, The West Chicago Street Railroad, and the city would eventually
move from cable cars to electric street cars, and those electric streetcars turned into
modern day elevated trains – in Chicago known as “The L”. and like the fate of
electric street cars in the rest of America - diesel busses and cars would become a final
nail in the coffin of these systems leaving the tunnels they once utilized, forgotten
in time.
Meer Decades later, the remains of the street cars are almost non-existent and the tunnels
themselves are fully out of sight.
The entrances to the three cable and streetcar tunnels were closed and sealed off to the
public.
There isn’t a way to access them, and they are not used in the current CTA infrastructure.
However, there was at one point a concept to convert them into traffic tunnels, but
the concept was ultimately abandoned, as the same steep grades that proved to be problematic
for horses were also unsafe for cars.
No longer available to the public, these tunnels remain a historic part of Chicago’s rich
story – and I would argue that the sheer imagination of them existing there, abandoned
under the river bed is part of what gives Chicago a depth of mystery to its otherwise
very shiny appearance.
Do you know any other mysteries involving tunnels?
I’d love to hear them and maybe make a video about them – let us know in the comment
section, and for more it’s history subscribe or consider checking out our daily stories.
This is Ryan Socash – signing off.