9. Great Central Station – Central Station
In 1856 the Illinois Central Railroad opened Great Central Station, at the time the largest building in downtown Chicago. Above the depot, which stood on Water Street, the Illinois Central maintained its corporate offices. Behind the depot were eight separate rail lines covered by a train shed. The station featured a masonry façade on Water Street, with the rest of the structure built mostly of wood. Though it suffered severe damage during the Great Fire it remained open for business, receiving trains carrying much of the emergency aid sent to the city. The wooden train shed, destroyed by the fire, was never rebuilt.
The predecessors to the Big Four (the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway) and the railroad itself all used Great Central Station. An idea of the impact of transportation in Chicago can be inferred from the number of trains serviced in the station by the end of the 19th century. In 1892 the station serviced a peak of 100 intercity passenger trains per day, though it was but one of six major train stations in the city. In 1893 the Illinois Central opened Central Station, and demolished the Great Central Station beginning that same year.