Arthur Uranus Gerber (1878–1960) was a commercial architect who resided in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

and whose designs included a number of transit stations in the

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also colloquially referred to as Chicagoland, is a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States. Encompassing 10,286 sq mi (28,120 km2), the metropolitan area includes the city of Chicago, its suburbs and hi ...

, at least five of which have since been placed onto the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. He was employed by the Northwestern Elevated originally then moved onto to design other buildings for its successor, the Chicago Rapid Transit, and the interurban railroads the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee, the Chicago South Shore & South Bend, and the Chicago Aurora & Elgin as each came under the control of utilities tycoon Samuel Insull.

Styles

Gerber was an eclectic architect who worked in several major styles: Craftsman, Bungaloid, Prairie, Beaux Arts, Spanish Colonial aka "Insull Spanish, " and Moderne. Not all of his works were of these styles only. The Lake Shore (also known as Pines) and

Beverly Shores Beverly Shores is a town in Pine Township, Porter County, Indiana, United States, about east of downtown Chicago. The population was 613 at the 2010 census. History Beverly Shores began life as a planned resort community. The Chicago, Lake Shore ...

stations along the

South Shore Line The South Shore Line is an electrically powered interurban commuter rail line operated by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) between Millennium Station in downtown Chicago and the South Bend International Airport in ...

were both of the Spanish style, including stucco walls and red tile roofs as is the sole remaining Skokie Valley Route station of the North Shore Line, Briergate, in Highland Park, Illinois. The

Kenosha Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenosh ...

station on 63rd Street and the Dempster station in Skokie, both of which are standing, are a blend of Bungaloid and Prairie styles, somewhat reminiscent of

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

style. The Mundelein North Shore Line station was a twin of the Kenosha station but it was torn down in the 1960s following abandonment of the North Shore Line in 1963.

Famous works

Beverly Shores station Beverly Shores is a train station in Beverly Shores, Indiana, served by the South Shore Line interurban commuter railroad. The station serves the town of Beverly Shores as well as the nearby Town of Pines. It is a flag stop. Architecture This is ...

, South Shore Line * Lake Shore station, South Shore Line * Former

11th Street station 11th Street or Eleventh Street may refer to: * 11th Street station (Indiana), a street stop in Michigan City, Indiana * 11th Street station (SEPTA), a subway station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania * Eleventh Street station (Miami), a Miami Metrom ...

, South Shore Line * Original

Dempster station Dempster is an 'L' station on the CTA's Purple Line at 1316 Sherman Place in Evanston, Illinois (directional coordinates 1300 north, 800 west). The current station has been in place since 1910. A 1991 CTA budget crisis almost precipitated th ...

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

and North Shore Line *

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations ...

, CA&E station *

Wilson Wilson may refer to: People * Wilson (name) ** List of people with given name Wilson ** List of people with surname Wilson * Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender * Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson Ro ...

, Chicago 'L' station * Linden, Chicago 'L' station *

Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenos ...

, North Shore Line station

Remaining works

Beverly Shores and the Michigan City depots in Indiana are still standing though the City of Michigan City recently bought the station there and plans on saving just the Beaux Arts facade, replacing everything behind it. In Illinois his stations in Skokie at Dempster, Villa Avenue in Villa Park; in Chicago, Wilson Avenue (Uptown), Sheridan Road, and Howard Street are still standing. Beverly Shores is partially an art gallery, partially a train station. Wilson is still a CTA stop and, as of 2017, is under restoration. The Dempster Street station, following relocation from its original site 130 feet east in 2002, hosts a Starbucks and is across from the contemporary CTA terminal, but it not used for trains. Villa Avenue is used by the Villa Park Historical Society as a museum. Kenosha's station was given a historic facelift and is used as an educational facility.

Gallery

19671008 25 South Shore Line Lake Shore Station (13914297279).jpg, Lake Shore station,
built in 1927 CSS&SB Depot, Beverly Shores, IN on January 27, 1964 (26558117333).jpg,

,
built in 1929 Dempster Station Side 2013.jpg, Dempster Station, Skokie, Illinois Villa Avenue Train Station (5998651551).jpg, Villa Avenue Station, Villa Park, Illinois Linden Gerber 060801.jpg, Linden Station, Chicago, Illinois

References

External links

*
Website devoted to Gerber's works
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerber, Arthur U Architects from Chicago 20th-century American architects American railway architects People from Evanston, Illinois 1878 births 1960 deaths