Harold Washington Library–State/Van Buren station

Harold Washington Library-State/Van Buren, (formerly Library-State/Van Buren, formerly State/Van Buren), is an 'L' station serving the CTA's Brown, Orange, Pink, and Purple Lines. Originally, the station was to have direct access to the second floor of the Harold Washington Library building, but this direct connection was never built. Farecard transfers are also available at the station for the Red and Blue Lines via the Jackson/State and Jackson/Dearborn subway stations, respectively. It was originally known as State/Van Buren when it first opened in 1897. The original station closed on September 2, 1973, along with six other stations, due to low ridership, and demolished in 1975.^[2] The new station was rebuilt and reopened on June 22, 1997 in order to serve the Harold Washington Library.^[3] The Chicago Transit Authority board voted unanimously on Wednesday, October 6, 2010, to rename the station to its current name.^[4]

Harold Washington Library State/Van Buren   1W 400S
Chicago 'L' rapid transit station
General information
Location	1 West Van Buren Street Chicago, Illinois 60605
Coordinates	41.876862°N 87.628196°W / 41.876862; -87.628196
Owned by	Chicago Transit Authority
Line(s)	Loop Elevated
Platforms	2 Side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	Red at Jackson Blue at Jackson
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	Yes
History
Opened	October 3, 1897; 126 years ago (1897-10-03)
Closed	September 2, 1973; 51 years ago (1973-09-02) – June 22, 1997; 27 years ago (1997-06-22)
Previous names	State/Van Buren Library-State/Van Buren
Passengers
2020	376,074[1]  65.1% (CTA)
Rank	65 out of 143
Services
Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station LaSalle/Van Buren toward Midway Orange Line Roosevelt One-way operation LaSalle/Van Buren toward Linden Purple Line Express Adams/Wabash One-way operation LaSalle/Van Buren toward 54th/Cermak Pink Line LaSalle/Van Buren One-way operation Brown Line Adams/Wabash toward Kimball
Former services Preceding station Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad Following station LaSalle/Van Buren One-way operation North Shore Line Congress/Wabash toward Roosevelt Road Preceding station Chicago "L" Following station Dearborn/Van Buren Closed 1949 Next clockwise Loop Elevated Adams/Wabash Next counter-clockwise
Track layout Legend Pink to 54th/Cermak Orange to Midway Purple Express to Linden Federal St. Dearborn St. Plymouth St. State St. Brown to Kimball
Location

Bus connections

View of Library-State/Van Buren from Dearborn Street

CTA

• 2 Hyde Park Express (Weekday Rush Hours only)
• 6 Jackson Park Express
• 10 Museum of Science and Industry (Memorial Day-Labor Day Only)
• 22 Clark (Owl Service)
• 24 Wentworth (Weekdays only)
• 29 State
• 36 Broadway
• 62 Archer (Owl Service)
• 146 Inner Lake Shore/Michigan Express
• 147 Outer DuSable Lake Shore Express

References

1. "Annual Ridership Report – Calendar Year 2020" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority, Ridership Analysis and Reporting. January 19, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
2. Buck, Thomas (September 2, 1973). "CTA Shutting Down 7 Rapid Transit Stations Today". Chicago Tribune. p. 5.
3. Hilkevitch, Jon (June 18, 1997). "Library Going on CTA Line - New Rail Station to Bring Riders Right Next to Books". Chicago Tribune. p. 3.
4. Hilkevitch, Jon. "'L' stop named for Mayor Harold Washington". Chicago Breaking News. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 7, 2010.

External links

Media related to Harold Washington Library-State/Van Buren (CTA) at Wikimedia Commons

• Harold Washington Library-State/Van Buren Station Page
• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. IL-1-B, "Union Elevated Railroad, State Street Station"
• CTA - Train schedules: Brown Purple Orange Pink

• Ridership figures, 2009 (172 KiB)

• Dearborn Street exit-only stairs from Google Maps Street View
• State Street entrance from Google Maps Street View