Ask Geoffrey: 11/6


Just how long have the antique-looking Chicago streetlights been burning? Geoffrey Baer reveals the age of these beauties in this week’s edition of Ask Geoffrey. Plus, what was on the site of the Sears Tower before it was built, and what's with the old A/B "L" train system?

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What was on the site of Willis Tower (Sears Tower) before it was built?

–Ruby Baer, Evanston

The Chicago skyline without Sears TowerThe Chicago skyline without Sears Tower

The area where the Willis Tower now stands was historically Chicago’s garment district, with hundreds of clothing manufacturers in big loft buildings. As late as 1960 more than half of the city’s 200-plus clothing makers were still there. There were also wholesalers, warehouses, and “back office” sort of buildings like mail-order fulfillment houses.

In 1958 the Richard J. Daley administration created a development plan that called for replacing industrial buildings in that area with commercial office towers in order to increase property values and tax revenues.  Convincing developers to build west of the “L” tracks along Wells Street was difficult, so Daley wanted a big signature project that would attract more office construction and fully transform the area.

Sears expressed interest in consolidating their offices in that area, but the big problem was that they wanted to build one tower on a two-block parcel that was divided by Quincy Street. Daley agreed to sell that block of Quincy Street to Sears for $2.7 million.

Sears Tower under constructionSears Tower under construction

With Daley’s backing, the agreement sailed through City Council. The two blocks themselves were purchased for $12 million. There were 15 buildings on the parcel purchased from about a hundred owners.

Our intern Daniel Agostino found some fantastic picture of the buildings that used to be on those two blocks. Many were built in the late 1880s and demolished between 1965 and 1970.

One of the most interesting buildings was the Garden City Warehouse built in 1882-83 on the vanished block of Quincy between Franklin and Market/Wacker. It had an unusual and rather lovely gothic style cast-iron façade and was once occupied by a wholesale furrier and dress-maker named Samuel P. Platt.

A big thank you to historian and cartographer Dennis McClendon whom we so often call upon for help with these kinds of questions.


I think the old-looking streetlights you find around the city are the original street lights, but my friend thinks they’re reproductions.  Who wins?

–Robert Drinan, Hyde Park

Your friend wins. They are new. The city started replacing modern-looking streetlights with the more vintage looking ones in the early 2000s. They are part of the Chicago Department of Transportation’s official Streetscape Guidelines published in 2003.

The streetlights our viewer asked about are called Chicago Gateway 2000 lights. They feature curlicues supporting the arm, decorative finials, a fluted column, and a very ornate base.

State Street in 1958State Street in 1958 According to a 2004 Chicago Tribune piece by Eric Zorn the price tag for each streetlight back then was $4,400 twice that of what Zorn called “ordinary” streetlights. Zorn said they resemble something “ye olde lamplighter used to tend every night at dusk.”

The Guidelines also include two other historic-looking designs including the “single acorn” pedestrian light and the historic twin arm pole for both vehicles and pedestrians. They are deployed in different areas depending on the overall streetscape plan and the balance of pedestrian and vehicle lighting needed. While they look old, they are state of the art in terms of the actual light and the way they illuminate the street.

This streetscape protocol was put into place during the Richard M. Daley administration. Many people remember Daley’s fondness for wrought iron fences and landscaped planters. Daley said, “It’s the little things that make a city great.”

By the way, the city does still have a modern looking light called the “Davit Arm” which is used in some areas.

We do know of at least one place in Chicago where at least the poles, if not the lights, are 120 years old! These light poles in the Beverly neighborhood were transplanted here from the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. They were among the first electric streetlights in Chicago and in America.


I remember riding the “L” when some stops were "A" stations, "B" stations or both "A and B" stops. When did the CTA do away with this system and why?

–Dan Currier, Edgewater

  • Garfield Park, 1948

    Garfield Park, 1948

  • The "skip-stop" system A and B service trains.

    The "skip-stop" system A and B service trains.

  • The Ravenswood branch

I remember very well the days when I would scramble up the stairs at my ‘L’ station as I heard a train approaching, only to watch it pass right through without stopping because it was an “A” train and I was at a “B” station.

This so-called “skip-stop” system was established in 1948 after the CTA consolidated several independent and competing rapid transit companies. Most of the lines in those days had only two tracks--no parallel express tracks. The cars were old and slow, and there were lots of stations. This caused delays with trains blocking and slowing those behind them.

The skip-stop plan was first adopted on the Lake Street Line and later system-wide. At the same time, some stations that were too close together were eliminated. Less busy stations were designated as A or B and busier ones as both. A/B service was only on certain lines and only during the day.

Ridership declined over the decades as more people started driving cars, and lots of people moved to the suburbs. This led to reduction in the number of trains, creating more spacing between them. This made A/B service necessary only during rush hour periods and on fewer and fewer lines.

The service was eliminated system-wide in April 1995.


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