We have already looked at 10 impressive US train stations that were bulldozed and replaced with lesser structures, if they were replaced at all. Here are six more stops on our tour of the nation’s legacy of demolished depots.
1. Columbus Union Station
In 1897, Columbus opened its third Union Station, a large complex designed by Chicago architect Daniel Burnham. The building, expansive compared to previous facilities to handle additional traffic, had a monumental arched facade along High Street and a large train shed. Over time, elements of the structure were removed until the whole station was demolished in 1979 after Amtrak service ceased in 1977. Now a wacky convention center and several lanes of I-670 stand in its place.[SButtonZ button="digg"]
THEN: A showpiece train station
NOW: A bizarre pastel-shaded convention center
2. Philadelphia Broad Street Station
The Pennsylvania Railroad opened the Broad Street Station in downtown Philadelphia in 1881 to serve all suburban and intercity traffic. The terminal was for a time the largest in the world, and by 1930 it was serving 450 trains a day. That huge traffic, however, made it too small, so Penn built two new stations — 30th Street and Suburban Station — in its place. In disuse, the Broad Street facility was demolished in 1953 and replaced by Penn Center, a complex of office buildings. One good result of the terminal’s destruction: the demolition of the “Chinese Wall,” a giant viaduct dividing downtown used by trains travelling from Broad Street Station to the west.
THEN: At the time of construction, the world’s largest train depot
NOW: The Penn Center office complex
3. New Orleans Union Station
Louis Sullivan, one of America’s most prominent architects, only designed one station, but his Union Station in New Orleans was a gracious slice of this southern city. The terminal opened in 1892 as the primary destination for Illinois Central Railroad trains from Chicago. Rising traffic and the advantages of one station for all lines encouraged the city’s railroads to join together in the construction of a new Union Passenger Terminal, which was completed in the 1950s directly adjacent to the older terminus, which was then demolished.
THEN: The only train station designed by great US architect Louis Sullivan, mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright
NOW: New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal
4. Minneapolis Great Northern Depot
The beaux-arts Minneapolis Great Northern Depot was the city’s largest station. When it opened in 1913, it served as a prominent landmark along the Mississippi River, but it was destroyed in 1978 after Amtrak ended service to downtown Minneapolis. In its place is the new Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
THEN: A great Beaux Arts depot
(Via)
NOW: For many years the site was empty, today the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
5. Portland (Maine) Union Station
Service between Boston and Portland ended in 1965, four years after the city’s Union Station was demolished; only in the past decade have passenger trains again run along the line. Union Station, built in 1873, was the main terminus for Boston & Maine and Portland & Rochester services.
THEN: A appealing station with a clock tower
NOW: A new station that looks like a drive-thru bank branch
6. Milwaukee Union Station
The Milwaukee Union Station served passengers between 1886 and 1965, when it closed after being replaced by a new Intermodal Station. A week after shuttering, the terminal was struck by fire, subsequently bulldozed, and replaced by an office building. Not the prettiest ending for a proud Tudor-style brick structure with an impressive clock tower.
THEN: An impressive Tudor-style station
NOW: A squat office complex
(Top pic – Chicago and North Western Rail Terminal, partially demolished in 1984)
Tags: NOSTALGIA
SAVE DETROIT CENTRAL STATION from vandals. Save our national architectural heritage! Is there any sanity left in our people?? It is unbelievable that a nation so carelessly destroys its own heritage while going to Europe to gawk at their old buildings!! We have gone mad for sure.
Union Station in Columbus went in two blows. It was an unusual station in that the facade along High Street was actually a screen if sorts with the actual station building (a red brick building behind. Part of this screen included arches for carriages and later cars to pass through to drop off passengers at the main doors behind. In the early 1930s, traffic jams were being caused because, as the arch pass throughs were originally built for carriages, they would only accomodate one lane of car traffic passing through. It was decided in the early 1930s to demolish this portion, just the arch pass throughs, thus opening up the main drive. The remainder of the High Steeet screen remained. A neon sign was placed at this entance (very art deco) announcing the five passenger railroads serving the city at the time. They were Pennsylvania, New York Central, Baltimore and Ohio, Chesapeake and Ohio, and Norfolk and Western. While the art deco sign clearly was not the entrance arches, it added a unique interest. The destruction of Union Station in the 1970s was indeed a tragedy, and haunts Columbus today. It is talked about as being the greatest loss for the city. Only one arch from the beaux Arts screen facade remains and is in a park nearby. It is treasured as a lone photograph one has saved from a fire.
The greatest of all the lost stations is surely NYC’s former Pennsylvania Station, which had a central waiting room 150 ft high, with 65 ft columns and modelled on the Baths of Caracalla in Rome. Several books have been written about this station, destroyed in ’63-’66. The most current is “Conquering Gotham:A Gilded Epic: The Construction of Penn Station and its tunnels” by Jill Jonnes. I am currently reading it. Seems that the destruction of this building started the modern historical preservation movement in this country
Great review of past losses. So, now about how to preserve what grand old stations that survive? Could you begin by cataloging the stations, like Portland Oregon’s Union Station that have survived inadvertently or that have been preserved? That would be a great service, indeed and a beginning to preserve our national train station heritage.
Wonderful article and great pictures! Fascinating to see the old stations but tragic to think that they’ve been demolished – often for street widening exercises, parking lots or uninspired new development… I knew the story of Penn Station in NYC but that’s actually the first time I’ve seen a photo of it. What a loss! On a positive note, it’s reassuring to know it’s not just the British that destroy their important historical structures (take a look at Euston Station in London and the original Euston Arch (found a year or two relatively intact in the River Thames!). As for large stations that actually managed to see new life, check out Manchester Central Station (formerly G-MEX). For abandoned, see Manchester Mayfield.
Just a quick note about Portland’s Union Station. It is actually not a station, but just a boring strip mall. The new Amtrak station is down the way a bit, but that building is boring too.
In Texarkana, TX and Texarkana, AR there is a really neat old train 44,000 sq ft station built in 1928 that is still in remarkable condition. I had a chance to see the inside of it: http://www.trainweather.com/texarkanaunionstation061704.html It was originally built to face the federal court house and post office about a 1/2 mile away that also straddles the state line. Apparently the city didn’t think the original planners knew what they were doing an built a huge police station to block the view. Also, there is an Amtrak office in a tiny room at the end of the building and a connected prison/jail at the other end that appears to be swallowing or engulfing the old train station….very sad.
I would nominate Fort Street Station in Detroit, a Victorian gem and the lesser known of Detroit’s two terminals. Also Birmingham’s Southern Railway terminal. A loss on the scale of New York’s Penn Station. Tragedies both.
What a shame these beautiful stations were torn down. I used to go to Penn Station every week by train from Long Island. It was a beautiful station. I wish we utilized the railroad now as we did then. Think of the gas we could save, less 14-wheelers terrorizing the highways and burning up gas too. (Sorry truck drivers, but “the noble knights of the road” are almost a thing of the past too. Younger drivers would just as soon run you off the road to get where they are going> but that’s another story)
Think of the airline fuel we could save too. And maybe the prices would come down if there was more of a choice in how we traveled from place to place. Alot to think about, but thanks for preserving the beautiful photos. I love the nostalgic city buildings of the past. They just don’t make beatiful ornate buildings like that anymore.
PS How does Europe manage to conserve their beautiful heritage? This country is only a few hundred years old and we are always tearing down and rebuilding. Look at the gorgeous monuments of Europe, and they manage to stay standing. Buckingham Palace, Kensington Manor, Big Ben, The Eiffel Tower, Vatican City…