Chicago Heights Street Railway

The Chicago Heights Street Railway

by Stephen M. Scalzo

Headline image: Chicago Heights Street Railway car 103 is southbound on West End Avenue (today Halsted Street) just north of Illinois Street. Behind the car is the 120-foot tall standpipe at West End and Otto, with city hall beyond it. The stretch of track pictured hosted not only CHSR streetcars but interurban cars of two different companies. Today this scene is mostly parking lots and abandoned buildings, and Illinois Street has largely been erased. Photos from the Stephen Scalzo Collection of the Illinois Railway Museum.

Ed. Note: Chicago Heights, Illinois, is a small city located 25 miles straight south of downtown Chicago. For info on the industrial history of Chicago Heights, click here.

The Chicago Heights Street Railway was organized on March 2, 1901, with $100,000 of capital. The company had the backing of the Chicago Heights Land Association because a streetcar system would facilitate development of the city. After receiving a 20-year franchise from the city council and posting a $10,000 bond, the company initially constructed 3.73 miles of primary track and 1 mile of secondary track. Passenger service was inaugurated during September 1904 with a 5-cent fare, and streetcars became known locally as the "dinky." Electricity for the overhead wires was purchased from the Chicago & Southern Traction Company interurban system. A small carbarn was constructed for maintenance and storage at Wentworth and 11th Street. Eventually trackage totaled 5.44 miles and six closed, two-axle streetcars were purchased, of which three were used daily and three were kept as spares. That was the beginning of the golden age of streetcars, and by acquiring a street railway system, Chicago Heights was joining a boom that would last until the advent of paved highways.

CHSR car 101 poses with its crew at an unknown location. Judging from the archaic Bombay roof, these cars were probably rebuilt from older cable trailers or horsecars. The rooftop ad reads "Prices shaved - your money saved - Ascher's."

In addition to the local streetcars, the city also had two interurban systems that operated on some of the company's trackage. The Chicago & Southern Traction Company interurbans operated through the city between Chicago and Kankakee, and the Joliet & Southern Traction Company interurbans operated to Joliet.

By 1910, the city had a population of 14,525. The streets on which the streetcars operated were either ankle deep in dust or mud, depending upon the season. The city started to pave the streets in 1914, beginning with 16th Street. The company was required by the city to pay for a share of the paving costs for streets on which its tracks were located. In 1917, the system was earning only $22,468 with 381,463 passengers being carried. With the arrival of the automobile, the line ran into financial difficulties. Fares were increased to eight cents in 1918, but by that time, patronage was declining.

By 1924, with the annual deficit having reached $4,000, the company determined that it could not continue operating. On December 24, 1924, authority was received to discontinue service, and on January 11, 1925, the last streetcar operated. The interurbans continued to use the company's trackage until their service was discontinued. The overhead wires were dismantled, and the unused trackage remained in the streets until the Depression, when the Works Progress Administration removed them.

This article was edited and laid out by Frank Hicks. Thanks to Ray and Julie Piesciuk and to Richard Schauer for making available the materials from the Stephen Scalzo Collection that were used to publish this history.

Equipment Roster

There is virtually no solid information on CHSR rolling stock. The three photos known to exist depict cars numbered 101, 102, and 103, all of the same design: single-truck, Bombay roof, with rudimentary flat-panel ends. There's no indication of who built/rebuilt these cars for CHSR. Records suggest that the line also owned an additional three cars stored as backups.

Trackage

Click here for a Chicago Heights Street Railway route map

This 1915 CHSR timetable is from the Scalzo Collection. Timetable points are 11th & Wentworth, the northeast end of the system at the carbarn; Victoria, the center of town at the Victoria Hotel at West End & Illinois; 26th, the south edge of town at 26th & Chicago Road; and Campbell & 15th, the west side of town. Exact routing is uncertain but it appears there were basically two routes, one northeast-to-west and one northeast-to-south. East-west service along 14th and 16th may have depended on which route a car was on or may have been single direction, with westbound cars on 14th and eastbound cars on 16th (or vice versa).

It's not terribly interesting, but this is the 1911 Sanborn fire insurance drawing of the CHSR carbarn on the north side of 11th Street just west of Wentworth near 5th Avenue.

Click here to return to the Scalzo History Collection index