Grand Central Station, Chicago by Solon S. Beman Built 1890, Demolished 1971 Photos by Richard Nickel Art Institute of Chicago Archival Image Collection
Grand Central Station Tower, Chicago, by Solon S. Beman. Built in 1890. Demolished in 1971. Historic Photo Credit: Richard Nickel Archive, Art Institute of Chicago Archival Image Collection.
Grand Central Station, Chicago, Harrison Street Facade, by Solon S. Beman. Built in 1890. Demolished in 1971. Historic Photo Credit: Richard Nickel Archive, Art Institute of Chicago Archival Image Collection.Grand Central Station Tower with 13-foot dial grand clock, one of the largest in the US, Chicago, by Solon S. Beman. Built in 1890. Demolished in 1971. Historic Photo Credit: Richard Nickel Archive, Art Institute of Chicago Archival Image Collection.Grand Central Station, Chicago, Harrison Street Facade, by Solon S. Beman. Built in 1890. Demolished in 1971. Historic Photo Credit: Richard Nickel Archive, Art Institute of Chicago Archival Image Collection.Grand Central Station, Chicago, Harrison Street Facade, by Solon S. Beman. Built in 1890. Demolished in 1971. Historic Photo Credit: Richard Nickel Archive, Art Institute of Chicago Archival Image Collection.Grand Central Station, Chicago, Base of Tower, by Solon S. Beman. Built in 1890. Demolished in 1971. Historic Photo Credit: Richard Nickel Archive, Art Institute of Chicago Archival Image Collection.Grand Central Station, Chicago, Harrison Street Entrance, by Solon S. Beman. Built in 1890. Demolished in 1971. Historic Photo Credit: Richard Nickel Archive, Art Institute of Chicago Archival Image Collection.Grand Central Station, Chicago, Waiting Room, by Solon S. Beman. Built in 1890. Demolished in 1971. Historic Photo Credit: Richard Nickel Archive, Art Institute of Chicago Archival Image Collection.Grand Central Station, Chicago, Entrance to Restaurant, by Solon S. Beman. Built in 1890. Demolished in 1971. Historic Photo Credit: Richard Nickel Archive, Art Institute of Chicago Archival Image CollectionGrand Central Station, Chicago, Train Shed, by Solon S. Beman. Built in 1890. Demolished in 1971. Historic Photo Credit: Richard Nickel Archive, Art Institute of Chicago Archival Image Collection.Vacant lot at SW corner of S. Wells Street and W. Harrison Street at the site of Grand Central Station, Chicago. Following demolition in 1971, the Grand Central Station site remained vacant for nearly 50 years until 2019. Photo Credit: Google Street View
Grand Central Station, Chicago
Architect: Solon S. Beman
Location: Southwest corner of S. Wells and W. Harrison Streets
Built: 1890
Demolished: 1971
“Architecturally, no other Chicago station approached Solon S. Beman’s monumental Grant Central of 1890. Its Norman tower, rising 247 feet at the corner of Harrison and Wells Streets, contained an 11,000-pound bell to warn travellers of the time, and its iron-and-glass train shed was one of the marvels of nineteenth-century engineering. The station also housed a deluxe hotel and was the departure point for the Baltimore & Ohio’s all-Pullman Capital Limited, the favored transport of Washington-bound Midwest politicians. The prominent Chicago architect Harry Weese called the razing of Grand Central Station in 1971 an act of “wanton destruction”.” (Lost Chicago, David Lowe, page 57)
