The South Side Elevated Railroad was incorporated in 1888 with the goal of linking downtown with the Indiana state line.

The first section of its main line, and the first rapid transit in Chicago, opened on June 6, 1892, between Congress and 39th Streets.

[6] The CTA aimed to economize service on the "L", which was suffering from declining ridership, and closed many stations on the North-South lines on August 1, 1949.

[7] The number of passengers at 29th peaked at 549,776 in 1903, when it was the lowest-ridership station on the main line except for 61st on the Jackson Park extension,[8] and last exceeded 200,000 in 1928.

[9] These low numbers were typical of the main line north of Indiana, whose busiest stations of 22nd and 35th never served more than a million passengers a year after 1927.