51st is a station on the

Chicago Transit Authority The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its surrounding suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago 'L' and CTA bus service. In , the system had a ridership of , o ...

's "L" system, located in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and serving the Green Line. It is situated at 319 E 51st Street, three blocks east of State Street. It opened on August 28, 1892.

History

51st was built in 1892 when the

South Side Elevated Railroad The South Side Elevated Railroad (originally Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad) was the first elevated rapid transit line in Chicago, Illinois. The line ran from downtown Chicago to Jackson Park, with branches to Englewood, Normal Par ...

extended its line southward to serve the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordi ...

. The original station was designed by Myron H. Church and was a

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

building with some elements of the Queen Anne style and a half-cone bay. The platforms at 51st were constructed like all other South Side Elevated Railroad platforms and consisted of wooden platforms with a tin canopy. When the A/B skip-stop system was introduced in 1949, 51st became an AB station. Because

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978 as ''Garfield'', it chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, his human ...

and 58th were B and A stations respectively, 51st became the transfer point between the Englewood (A) and Jackson Park (B) branches of the South Side Elevated. It served as the transfer point until 1982, when Garfield became an AB station. 51st closed in 1990, so its original canopies could be removed. The station underwent renovation during the 1994-96 Green Line closure, and its station house was replaced with a modern station house with a white and green tile facade. The platforms were also rebuilt, and steel and glass platforms replaced the old wooden ones. Construction at 51st was not completed until 1997, a year after the Green Line reopened.

Services

51st is located in and serves the Washington Park and Grand Boulevard neighborhoods of Chicago along with the 47th and

stations. Trains toward Harlem/Lake arrive every ten minutes, as do trains toward Ashland/63rd and Cottage Grove. During 2007, 340,624 passengers boarded at 51st, making it the 22nd busiest station on the Green Line.Chicago Transit Authority ridership figures by station entrance (2007)
/ref> 51st has two elevated

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms ...

s which serve the Green Line's two tracks. A station building on the south side of 51st Street houses the fare controls and connects to both platforms via stairs and

elevator An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...

s. Auxiliary exit stairs are located on the north side of 51st Street. The station is fully wheelchair

accessible Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i.e ...

Bus connections

CTA * 15 Jeffery Local

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

51st Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
{{DEFAULTSORT:51st (Cta) CTA Green Line stations CTA stations located above ground Railway stations in the United States opened in 1892