This is a collection of photos about downtown East Chicago. I found interesting but I did not take them.
I found this picture on Facebook. The view is looking west on Chicago Ave from in front of where the Voge Theater used to be. Most of the stores are gone but most of the buildings are still there, but not as nice as in the photo. If you know the area, the "Dollar Tree" is where the parking lot for the Elks building was and the Elks building is now the parking lot for the "Dollar Tree".
I found this picture on an internet photo site. The view is looking west on Chicago Ave from the northwest corner of Chicago Ave and Indianapolis Blvd. Passenger boared South Shore trains from here until the station was moved to it's current location on Indianapolis Blvd in 1956. Most of the businesses are gone but the buildings are still there. Note Elks building on the right edge of the photo. It was mentioned above. The photographer was in front of the South Shore Hotel as seen in the next photo.
This view is from the opposite end of the block where the previous photo was taken. The photographer was in front of the South Shore Station as seen in the previous photo. Click here for a website with more of Sandy Goodrick Photography and photos of the South Shore trains past and present.
This February of 1949 photo shows not only passenger trains pass through Chicago Ave until the East Chicago bypass was opened in 1956. Until February of 2021,the trains still crossed Michigan City Indiana in the streets. A Double Track Project was started to relocate the tracks from the street. Service resumed in the city in the fall of 2023 with the tracks along side of the streets..
This is what the East Chicago South Shore station looked like in 1977. I was taking my camera with me to work that day for a lunch time photo junket. If I would have waited to get a train in the photo, I would have been late for work.
The building at the platform level behind the large sign was the main entrance from the parking lot and ticket office. It had a stairway and an reversable escalator. The small building on the right contained an elevator to moving packages down to street level.
Notice all the cars in the photo. All of them, except for the bug, were nothing but Detroit iron.
Next is a photo of the station office. It was supposed to be temporary for almost 40 years.
To the right of the building door was the entrance to the tunnel to the platform entrance..
Next is a photo of the platform of the stop. I spent many hours on this platform waiting for trains. Notice on the right, the replacement is under construction.
I found this picture on an internet photo site. The view is looking northeast on Chicago Ave from the southwest corner of Chicago Ave and Railroad Ave (currently a parking lot for the Salvation Army). Both South Shore passenger and freight trains passed through this intersection until the East Chicago bypass was openned in 1956. All the buildings from this intersection are gone today.
Railroad Ave for it's entire length was home for many railroad related businesses. Crossing Chicago Ave was a pair of tracks used to service the businesses. Today there are no tracks there. One business remains that resurfaces train wheels.
I found this picture on a Facebook post.
The view is looking west on Chicago Ave from the middle of Chicago Ave.
The photographer is standing near where the train in the last photo was.
On the right, was the former home of Marcus Dodge, which
burned down in 2013.
On the left, was the used car lot for Marcus Dodge, where the Salvation Army
building is located.
From the southwest corner of Chicago Ave and Railroad Ave (currently the parking lot
for the Salvation Army), the shadows of a building housing a bar and grill and a
laudry can be seen on the street.
Both South Shore passenger and freight trains passed through this intersection
until the East Chicago bypass was openned in 1956.
times.