Great Central Station

The station was designed by Otto H. Matz and included both a head house and a train shed. The most distinctive feature of the train shed was the three masonry arches fronting the wooden structure. Architectural historian Carroll Meeks criticized the front of the head house, calling it an "ill-assorted complex of disparate elements." Carl W. Condit cited the design as an example of vernacular architecture. The train shed incorporated a Howe truss in its design and measured wide and high. Only Birmingham New Street railway station had a wider roof. On its completion the station was the largest building in Chicago. In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed the train shed, which was never rebuilt. A subsequent fire in 1874 damaged the head house. == Services ==

Great Central Station officially opened on June 1, 1856. It was the Illinois Central's first permanent station in Chicago and cost . The Great Central originally served the Illinois Central, Michigan Central, Burlington Route, and Galena and Chicago Union (a predecessor to the Chicago and North Western). The G&CU was a tenant for less than a year, while the Burlington moved to the new Union Depot (predecessor to today's Union Station) in 1881. Predecessors of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway (the "Big Four") reached the depot in 1872 via trackage rights from Kankakee. The depot was used until 1893. Traffic peaked at 100 intercity passenger trains per day in the early 1890s, not including suburban (what would now be called commuter) trains. The Illinois Central constructed a new facility, Central Station, to meet the traffic demands of the World's Columbian Exposition. That station opened on April 17, 1893, and Great Central was demolished. Suburban trains continued to stop north of Central Station where Millennium Station now stands. == Notes ==