It was constructed by the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad and served its Garfield Park branch.

The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad Company was granted a 50-year franchise by the Chicago City Council on April 7, 1892,[1] and began securing right of way shortly thereafter.

[2] As designed, the Metropolitan's operations comprised a main line that went westward from downtown to diverge into three branches – one northwest to Logan Square, one due west to Garfield Park, and one southwest to Douglas Park – and serve various parts of Chicago's west side.

[3][5] The expenses incurred in constructing the Metropolitan's vast trackage would catch up to the company, which entered receivership in 1897; the similarly named Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railway Company was organized in January 1899 and assumed operations on February 3 of that year.

[6] The interurban Aurora Elgin and Chicago Railway (AE&C) opened in 1902 and began using the Garfield Park branch in 1905.