Construction of Chicago's Subway System

I lived on Bernard, one block over from Kimball Av., when they built the Blue line between Logan Square and O'Hare airport, in the late 60's. I remember how torn up the neighborhood became from the constant flow of dump trucks and cement trucks. But they eventually got it done!

thank you !!

Thank you. Great history lesson.

Thanks for uploading. Funny how many subways were not made by the CTA

If only the master plan for the subway would have been built. About 1/2 that plan was built but also the red line all the way up to the north side was built but not included on the plan in this video.

Cermak went to FDR in the early 1930s to get the financing for the twin bore subways under State and Dearborn. Because he needed to provide thousands of patronage jobs during the depths of the Depression. Another reason he came to a premature violent end a few years later...

6:25 Midway Airport. O'Hare Airport wasn't built until after World War II.

Y’all have any video of the Chicago tribune tower construction or Wrigley Building construction?

Chicagoans feel deeply bitter watching this early film, so filled with joy and hope for the future --- our present --- a collapsing dystopia of filth and fear. We live among the ruins of old dreams, populated now by nightmares of death and terror.

Some of these comments are a little prejudice or one-sided when talking about the outcome of the city today. Everything has an origin and the world, especially the USA (not just Chicago) as a whole was very different back then. Optimism was at an old time high, but deterred over time due to the effects of General Change. Including but NOT restricted to....The Great Depression, WW2, Civil Unrest, The Vietnam War, The Cold War, Segregation, The Great Southern Migration, White Flight, Race Riots, Political Corruption, Racial Unjustice, Corporate Greed, Government Cover-ups, Religious Differences, Opposing Beliefs, Dynamic Societal Changes, Administrative Secrets, Limited Resources of Education & Health Services, Legal & Illegal Minority Boom, The Dominance of Illicit Drugs, Mental Deprivation & Degenerative Acts, The Proverty Crisis, Less then worthwhile & Finite Employment Opportunities, Persistently Increasing & Overbearing Inflation, Racial Profiling, Atrocious Liars of the Status Quo, Constant Expanding Job Outsourcing, Untrustworthy Government, Bigoted & Biased Criminal Justice System, Street Gangs, Thieves, Convicts, Thugs, Crooks, Amoral Law Enforcement, Pedophiles, Rapists, Extremists, Terrorists, Radicals, Mass Inequality, Populace National Division, So on and so forth. So there is a lot of blame to go around. Simply as to as why we are where we are in the world today.

54 mile system ‼️ they did about 60% of what they planned.. A short period film❓ you don't know what year ❓

Chicago has for the most part had a clean efficient transit system. In recent years many of the subway stations on the State Street line currently referred to as the red line have been improved in appearance. This includes the fare collection mezzanine level. I have not been on the CTA in five years or so due to ( police activity) frequently reported. Yes there are thugs and gangster violent minors to be concerned about. It’s a shame that our system has to be avoided for personal safety.

What did they do with all that clay? i'll bet they could have made enough bricks with that clay to build an entire new neighborhood somewhere full of those ugly boxy beige-colored single-story bunglows.

Who do they call when those twin tubes leak?

Loved riding the subways here since the 70s. Sadly now like the most of the city it is dominated by thugs and homeless people

If these people in 1938 had a crystal ball and could see how the city became covered in graffiti and taken over by loathesome animals by the 70's and 80's, they never would have built anything. Those people didn't deserve it.

A truly horrible system today.