To carry the thousands of passengers to and from work, elevated trains ran on close headways, especially during the morning and evening rush hours. In 1916, 100,000 passengers rode the elevated daily during the peak hour between five and six in the evening; rush hour pile-ups of traffic often occurred at Loop intersections. (Courtesy George Kramers Collection.)

The most striking and visible legacy of the new transit system was the down-town **Loop**. A steel girder around the business section, it unmistakably defined the core of Chicago's central business district and identified the desirable and prestigious locations. Some complained that the elevated created a kind of Chinese Wall that damaged property outside; others thought the massive steel structures awkward and ugly, obstructing ground traffic and shutting out the sun and daylight; and nearly everyone objected to the rumbling of coaches over-head, the squealing wheels, and the in-cessant noise of trains starting and stopping. "The sky is of iron, and perpetually growls a rolling thunder," a French artist wrote after standing under the El at Wabash. "Electric lights are emitting burning sparks; below are wagons of every size and kind, whose approach cannot be heard in the midst of the noise; and the cars, with jangling voice which never ceases, cross and re-cross." "If the most noisy place is hell—surely Chicago must be hell," a bewildered Japanese visitor wrote in 1900.

and more than 130,000 vehicles, both horse-drawn and motor-driven, entered the loop on each working day in 1919. Combining this street traffic with the walking movements of the one-and-a-half million people who were usually there created immense congestion, especially at State and Madison. Adding to the problem were rough brick pavements and loose traffic control. (Courtesy Chicago Historical Society.)

The Chicago loop are several dozen miles apart. Thirty-fourth street and Broadway, inside the loop, are several dozen miles apart. Thirty-fourth streets and Broadway, ...

Mandel Brothers. (Courtesy Chicago Historical Society.)

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