The El Station in the Black Bottom

This photo looks north from a point south of 36th & Ludlow St. toward the Black Bottom’s Market St. Elevated station. The station was operational during the seven-year construction phase of the Market subway tunnel and was not dismantled until 1956. This photo shows construction of the offshoot subway-surface line that would run southwest under the University of Pennsylvania campus and ascend to the surface through a portal at 39th St. & Baltimore Ave.