Council Bluffs Transfer Depot

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Council Bluffs Transfer Depot
Historic American Buildings Survey J. Chris Jensen, Photographer. February 8, 1934 DETAIL CENTER BAY (EAST ELEVATION) 2d STORY - Union Pacific Station (Transfer Depot and Hotel), HABS IOWA,78-COUB,2-5.tif
Union Pacific Station Transfer Depot and Hotel
General information
Location1000 South 21 Street
Council Bluffs, Iowa
Coordinates 41°15′09″N95°52′31″W / 41.252528°N 95.875278°W / 41.252528; -95.875278
Lines Union Pacific Railroad
First transcontinental railroad
History
Opened1878 (original depot 1865)
Closed1928 - Hotel
demolished before 1936
Former services
Preceding station Union Pacific Railroad Following station
Omaha
toward Ogden
Overland Route Terminus
Location
Council Bluffs Transfer Depot

Council Bluffs Transfer Depot in Council Bluffs, Iowa opened in 1878, the depot had a grand hotel as it was the terminus for the First transcontinental railroad that headed west from the depot. In 1872, the Union Pacific Railroad built the Union Pacific Missouri River Bridge over the Missouri River connecting the transcontinental railroad (Union Pacific Railroad Overland Route) and Omaha, Nebraska to Council Bluffs. The bridge was 2,750 feet (840 m) long, and from the bridge had a one-mile long track which led up to the Council Bluffs Transfer Depot and its hotel. The depot and Council Bluffs Transfer Hotel names were given due to the many eastern trains that arrived for passengers and freight/US mail, which transferred to the transcontinental railroad heading west. The Depot and Hotel was built in the high high victorian italianate architecture style. [1] [2]

Contents

Depot and hotel

Council Bluffs, in Pottawatomie County, was chosen to be the First transcontinental railroad the eastern terminus of the first transcontinental railroad. [3] The bridge was opened in 1872, but the city of Council Bluffs still had to sue the Union Pacific to enforce the fact that the Eastern end of the transcontinental railroad was in Council Bluffs. The 1878 brick masonry Council Bluffs Transfer Depot replaced the 1874 depot that was destroyed in a fire. The First transcontinental railroad, in its planning stage, had two other possible eastern terminus St. Joseph, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas. Council Bluffs was selected as the depot was north of the Missouri Civil War and it was a shorter route to the Wyoming Rocky Mountains high plains crossing, which followed much of the Oregon Trail. [4] The Council Bluffs Union Pacific passenger train started in 1865. The depot was on the north side of the vast Union Pacific rail yard, with the river to the west and the town to the North and East. The vast rail yard also has a vast livestock yard to serve the meat markets to the east and west. At its peak, seven eastern railroads came to the Council Bluffs Transfer Depot. The depot/hotel designed by Union Pacific Superintendent S. H. H. Clark (1836-1900). The depot/hotel was a grand three-story building. The main lobby had 20-foot high ceilings and was built with fine black walnut and white pine. The depot had two wings; the south wing was the offices for five express train companies. The north wing had: a first-class dining room, barbershop, saloon bar, lunch counter, newsstand, and two waiting rooms for male and female travelers. On the second floor was the Transfer Depot Hotel. The rooms were lined along a 207-foot-long hallway. At each end of the hall were large parlors. For second-class and third-class travelers, the depot had a separate nearby emigrant hotel. The emigrant hotel housed the bakery, laundry rooms, land office, and the freight cold storage warehouse. A sign was installed in the waiting depot room that read: “The West begins here”. The Council Bluffs Transfer Depot was closed for over a week in 1881, due to the Great Flood of 1881 on the Missouri River from April 1, 1881, to April 27, 1881. The winter had heavy snowfall, and spring came late that year. The flood water in Council Bluffs came up to 9th street, Council Bluffs Transfer Depot was on 10th street. [5] [6] [7] In 1883, the city of Council Bluffs had eight railroad depots, eight railway roundhouse and six freight depots. To support the busy railway the city had 51 livery stables and 31 hotels; the Grand Council Bluffs Transfer Depot/hotel was one of the eight. In 1928, the hotel closed. In the 1940s, and World War II, the United States Postal Service Council Bluffs Transfer Depot mail depot became the largest mail transfer office in the United States until the 1970s. In the 1940s, 21 different passenger trains stopped in Council Bluff. The rail yards at the site of Council Bluffs Transfer Depot is still vast and busy today. There is no trace of the old depot/hotel. [1] [2] [8] [9]

Golden Spike Monument

Golden Spike Monument
Golden Spike Monument (Council Bluffs, IA).jpg
Golden Spike Monument in Council Bluffs, built in 1939, just north of the Council Bluffs Transfer
Location2073 9th Avenue, Council Bluffs, Iowa
Coordinates 41°15′12″N95°52′28″W / 41.253333°N 95.874333°W / 41.253333; -95.874333
Built1939
Built forCouncil Bluffs
ArchitectJack Boyne
USA Iowa location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Golden Spike Monument
Location of Golden Spike Monument in Iowa
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Golden Spike Monument
Golden Spike Monument (the United States)

In 1939, one block north of the Council Bluffs Transfer Depot at 2073 9th Avenue, S. 21st Street & 9th Avenue, the Golden Spike Monument was dedicated. It marks the 0.0 milepost of the eastern terminus of the Union Pacific Railroad transcontinental railroad. The Golden Spike Monument was dedicated on the 70th anniversary of the May 10, 1869 Golden Spike ceremony in Promontory Point, Utah. Also, for the 70th anniversary Cecil B. DeMille made the film Union Pacific. At a Council Bluffs City Council Meeting, in March 1939, engineer Jack Boyne motioned that a monument be built of the 70th anniversary. City Council approved the Boyne design and the $3,500 Monument was built with 14 men in just 10 days. The Monument was completed on April 26, 1939. The monument is 59 feet tall and is 243,200 pounds, about 100 times the size of a railroad spike. The Golden Spike Monument is built of reinforced concrete and painted gold. The Golden Spike Days were held to celebrate the monument, the film, and the 70th anniversary. Golden Spike Days was a four-day celebration held in both Council Bluffs and Omaha starting on April 28, 1939. Golden Spike Days had parades, many citizens in 1880 period costumes, an Indian Village, whisker Contests, a 1869 steam locomotive, Old Timers Club Members events, a costume Ball, and the Vincent Lopez orchestra. [10] [11]

Site the Council Bluffs Transfer Depot, black box in center of map, above the rail yard Union Pacific Station (Transfer Depot and Hotel), Twenty-first Street, Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie County, IA HABS IOWA,78-COUB,2- (sheet 0 of 10).png
Site the Council Bluffs Transfer Depot, black box in center of map, above the rail yard
The Overland Route map from 1908, Council Bluffs Transfer Depot is the start The Overland Route 1908 Map.jpg
The Overland Route map from 1908, Council Bluffs Transfer Depot is the start

Train service

The 1800s passenger trains in Council Bluffs:



The 1900’s passenger trains in Council Bluffs:


The 1940’s passenger trains in Council Bluffs:


The 1960’s passenger trains in Council Bluffs:


The 1990’s freight trains in Council Bluffs:

Council Bluffs Transfer depots

Rail passengers, freight, and mail were transferred to and from other nearby rail lines to the Council Bluffs Transfer Depot. The city's streetcar service connected all the nearby train depots. There were so many railroads, and railroad workers in Council Bluffs, up to one-fourth of the town, that the city had the nickname of the Blue Denim City, after the railroads blue jeans denim uniforms. [13] [14] Here are some of the other depots in and around Council Bluffs:

Legacy

While there is no trace of the Council Bluffs Transfer Depot, there are museums in Council Bluffs to remember the gold age of train travel:

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Home". www.thehistoricalsociety.org.
  2. 1 2 "US Parks, Depots" (PDF).
  3. ↑ "Executive Order of Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, Fixing the Point of Commencement of the Pacific Railroad at Council Bluffs, Iowa. dated March 7, 1864". 38th Congress, 1st Session SENATE Ex. Doc. No. 27– via CPRR.org.
  4. ↑ "NPS Historical Handbook: Golden Spike". www.nps.gov.
  5. ↑ "Missouri River flood of 1881, looking toward Council Bluffs :: Omaha Public Library". cdm.nebraska.gov.
  6. ↑ "Missouri River flood of 1881, toward Omaha :: Omaha Public Library". memories.ne.gov.
  7. ↑ "Flood of 1881". Omaha Public Library. Archived from the original on January 9, 2009. Retrieved March 31, 2008.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "Railroads in CB and Pottawattamie County". www.thehistoricalsociety.org.
  9. ↑ "Baggage Recreation Car – Stabled at Council Bluffs, UP.com" (PDF).
  10. 1 2 "Golden Spike Monument | Council Bluffs, IA - Official Website". www.councilbluffs-ia.gov.
  11. ↑ "Golden Spike Days - Omaha, Nebraska - April 26 - 29, 1939". www.historicomaha.com.
  12. ↑ Omaha and Council Bluffs Railway, americanhistory.si.edu
  13. ↑ Council Bluffs by Ryan Roenfeld and Richard Warner, 2014
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 RailsWest Railroad Museum A Railroad History of Council Bluffs
  15. ↑ "Iowa as it is in 1855" (PDF).
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