LaSalle Street Cable Car Powerhouse

The LaSalle Street Cable Car Powerhouse is a brick building that once housed steam engines to pull steel cables through the city. These cables moved streetcars across streets and even beneath the Chicago River, creating a dense network spanning the north side.

This powerhouse was built in 1886 as Chicago rapidly expanded and needed new ways to move people. The network it powered was the largest of its kind in America at that time and shaped urban transportation for years to come.

The building shows how Chicago moved people through its streets using advanced mechanics for the time. The machinery here was central to how residents traveled daily and shaped their connection to the expanding city.

The building sits at the corner of LaSalle and Illinois Street in an easy-to-reach downtown location. It now operates as a restaurant, so visitors can step inside to see it while dining or passing through.

A remarkable feature of this system was an underground tunnel beneath the Chicago River that carried a cable to pull cars on the opposite bank. This buried connection showed how engineers pushed their limits to link a expanding city together.

GPS coordinates: 41.89080,-87.63280

Latest update: December 14, 2025 16:40