This commuter line began in Northern Indiana in 1901; it started running in and out of Chicago in 1926, just after it was acquired by Samuel Insull's Middle West Utilities Corp. The road survived the Great Depression, and by 1945 annual revenues stood at about $6 million. After 1950, as more area residents used automobiles instead of trains, ridership declined. But the South Shore, unlike many other regional railroads, survived. In 1966, it was purchased by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad; in the 1970s, the state of Indiana prevented the line from closing. At the end of the twentieth century, it was known as the nation's last surviving interurban railroad.

This entry is part of the Encyclopedia's Dictionary of Leading Chicago Businesses (1820-2000) that was prepared by Mark R. Wilson, with additional contributions from Stephen R. Porter and Janice L. Reiff.