Montgomery Union Station

Last updated • 2 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Montgomery, AL
inter-city rail station
Union Station Montgomery.JPG
Montgomery Union Station, c.1900
General information
Location Montgomery, Alabama
USA
History
Opened1898
Closed1979
Former services (at 1989-1995 station)
Preceding station BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak Following station
Greenville
toward Mobile
Gulf Breeze Birmingham
Terminus
Former services (at Union Station)
Preceding station BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak Following station
Dothan Floridian Birmingham
toward Chicago
Preceding station Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Following station
Terminus Montgomery – Waycross Sprague
toward Waycross
Preceding station Central of Georgia Railway Following station
Terminus MontgomerySmithville Keyton
toward Smithville
Preceding station Louisville and Nashville Railroad Following station
McGehees
toward New Orleans
Main Line Jackson's Lake
toward Cincinnati
Preceding station Seaboard Air Line Railroad Following station
Terminus Montgomery – Savannah Merry
toward Savannah
Preceding station West Point Route Following station
TerminusMain Line Madison
toward Atlanta
Montgomery Union Station and Trainshed
Coordinates 32°22′50″N86°18′51″W / 32.38056°N 86.31417°W / 32.38056; -86.31417
Built1897
Architect Benjamin Bosworth Smith
Architectural styleRomanesque
NRHP reference No. 73000368
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJuly 24, 1973 [1]
Designated NHLDecember 8, 1976 [2]

Montgomery Union Station and Trainshed is a historic former train station in Montgomery, Alabama. Built in 1898 by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, rail service to the station ended in 1979 and it has since been adapted for use by the Montgomery Area Visitor Center and commercial tenants. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and became a National Historic Landmark in 1976.

Contents

History

Postcard of Union Station, Alabama Archives- circa 1915 Photocopy of a Postcard, Alabama Archives- circa 1915. VIEW LOOKING NORTHWEST - Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Union Station Train Shed, Water Street, opposite Lee Street, Montgomery, Montgomery HAER ALA,51-MONG,23A-16.tif
Postcard of Union Station, Alabama Archives- circa 1915
An Amtrak train under the Union Station Train Shed, 1974. VIEW LOOKING WEST, SHOWING LOCOMOTIVE AND TRAINSHED - Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Union Station Train Shed, Water Street, opposite Lee Street, Montgomery, Montgomery County, AL HAER ALA,51-MONG,23A-14.tif
An Amtrak train under the Union Station Train Shed, 1974.

Erected of brick and limestone on a high bluff along the Alabama River, the station was built by Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N) in 1898. The station also served passenger trains of Atlantic Coast Line, Western Railway of Alabama, Seaboard Air Line, Central of Georgia, and Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad. The station had six tracks under a 600-foot-long (180 m) shed, with a coach yard on the south end of the station as well as a Railway Express Agency facility. The station's design segregated passengers by race and incorporated Romanesque Revival elements.

L&N trains using the station included the Azalean,Florida Arrow, Humming Bird, Pan-American and South Wind. Traditionally, the Southern Railway's Crescent and Piedmont Limited were routed through the station.

The number of passenger trains using Union Station declined during the 1950s and 1960s. The last Southern Railway train, the Crescent, left in 1970 when that train was rerouted north through Birmingham. The Pan American ended in 1971 when the L&N yielded passenger operations to Amtrak. When Amtrak came into existence in 1971, it continued passenger service through Montgomery with a single train (the South Wind , later renamed the Floridian ), operating between Chicago and Miami. However, this train was terminated in 1979 and Union Station was closed.

After a period of disuse, Union Station was renovated for commercial tenants. The train shed still stands, although tracks under it have been replaced by asphalt parking. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976, for its importance in the state's railroad transportation history, and for the train shed, a rare surviving example of a 19th-century gable-roofed shed (most of which were later replaced by balloon sheds). [2] [3]

Amtrak returned to Montgomery in 1989 with an extension of the Crescent called the Gulf Breeze from Birmingham to Mobile, but Union Station was not used. Instead, Amtrak contracted with a travel agent who occupied a former grain silo nearby. This Amtrak service was terminated in 1995, and Montgomery has had no passenger rail service since.

Among other tenants, Union Station hosted the Montgomery Area Visitor Center, until it moved to its current location at 1 Court Square.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltimore Penn Station</span> Intercity rail station in Maryland

Baltimore Penn Station, formally named Baltimore Pennsylvania Station in full, is the main inter-city passenger rail hub in Baltimore, Maryland. Designed by New York City architect Kenneth MacKenzie Murchison (1872–1938), it was constructed in 1911 in the Beaux-Arts style of architecture for the Pennsylvania Railroad. It is located at 1515 N. Charles Street, about a mile and a half north of downtown and the Inner Harbor, between the Mount Vernon neighborhood to the south, and Station North to the north. Originally called Union Station because it served the Pennsylvania Railroad and Western Maryland Railway, it was renamed to match other Pennsylvania Stations in 1928.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dearborn Station</span> Former train station in Chicago, United States

Dearborn Station was, beginning in the late 1800s, one of six intercity train stations serving downtown Chicago, Illinois. It remained in operation until May 1, 1971. Built in 1883, it is located at Dearborn and Polk Streets, to the south of the Loop, adjacent to Printers Row. The station was owned by the Chicago & Western Indiana Railroad, which itself was owned by the companies operating over its line. The station building headhouse now houses office, retail, and entertainment spaces, and its trackage yard, behind the headhouse, was redeveloped into part of the Dearborn Park neighborhood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Station (New Haven)</span> Railroad station in Connecticut

New Haven Union Station is the main railroad passenger station in New Haven, Connecticut. It is the third such station in the city of New Haven, preceded by both an 1848 built station in a different location, and an 1879 built station near the current station's location. Designed by noted American architect Cass Gilbert, the present beaux-arts Union Station was completed and opened in 1920 after the previous Union Station was destroyed by fire. It served the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad for the next five decades, but fell into decline following World War II along with the United States railroad industry as a whole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Station (Nashville)</span> Hotel and former railroad terminal in Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville's Union Station is a former railroad terminal designed by Richard Montfort, chief engineer of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N), and built between 1898 and 1900 to serve the passengers of the eight railroads that provided passenger service to Nashville, Tennessee, at the time, but principally the L&N. Built just west of the downtown area, it was spanned by a viaduct adjacent to the station and positioned to the east and above a natural railroad cut, through which most of the tracks in the area were routed. The station was also used by streetcars prior to their discontinuance in Nashville in 1941.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richmond Main Street Station</span> Railway station in Richmond VA

Richmond Main Street Station, officially the Main Street Station and Trainshed, is a historic railroad station and office building in Richmond, Virginia. It was built in 1901, and is served by Amtrak. It is also an intermodal station with Richmond's city transit bus services, which are performed by Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC). The station is colloquially known by residents as The Clock Tower. It was listed to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, and in 1976 was made a U.S. National Historic Landmark. Main Street Station serves as a secondary train station for Richmond providing limited Amtrak service directly to downtown Richmond. Several Amtrak trains serving the Richmond metropolitan area only stop at the area's primary rail station, Staples Mill Road which is located five miles to the north in Henrico County.

The Western Railway of Alabama (WRA) also seen as "WofA" was created as the Western Railroad of Alabama by the owners of the Montgomery & West Point Railroad (M&WP) in 1860. It was built to further the M&WP's development West from Montgomery, Alabama to Selma, Alabama. When the line was constructed in 1870, the M&WP was merged into the WRA, creating a line from Selma to West Point, Georgia. It served Auburn, Alabama and connected in Opelika, Alabama to the Central of Georgia line from Columbus, Georgia to Birmingham, Alabama. Although it was partially owned by the Central of Georgia around the turn from the nineteenth to the twentieth century, it did not end up being owned by Norfolk Southern when that company came into existence due to the merger of the CofG's parent, the Southern Railway, and the Norfolk & Western Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reading Terminal</span> Former rail station in Philadelphia

The Reading Terminal is a complex of buildings that includes the former Reading Company main station located in the Market East section of Center City in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It comprises the Reading Terminal Headhouse, Trainshed, and Market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harrisburg Transportation Center</span> Intermodal station in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

The Harrisburg Transportation Center is a railway station and transportation hub in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It is located on the eastern edge of Downtown Harrisburg between the intersections of Aberdeen and Market Streets and 4th and Chestnut Streets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huntsville Depot</span> United States historic place

The Huntsville Depot located on the Norfolk Southern Railway line in downtown Huntsville is the oldest surviving railroad depot in Alabama and one of the oldest in the United States. Completed in 1860, the depot served as eastern division headquarters for the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. It is listed on both the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage and National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greensburg station</span> Railroad station in Greensburg, Pennsylvania

Greensburg station is an Amtrak railway station located approximately 30 miles (48 km) east of Pittsburgh at Harrison Avenue and Seton Hill Drive in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. The station is located just north of the city center. It is served only by Amtrak's Pennsylvanian, which operates once daily in each direction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indianapolis Union Station</span> Historic train station in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.

The Indianapolis Union Station is an intercity train station in the Wholesale District of Indianapolis, Indiana. Currently, Amtrak's Cardinal line serves the terminal, passing through Indianapolis three times a week.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birmingham station (Alabama)</span>

Birmingham station is a train station in Birmingham, Alabama. It is a service stop for Amtrak's Crescent, which provides daily service between New York City, Atlanta, and New Orleans. The current station is located on the site of another station originally built by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in 1960, although Amtrak did not use the building itself, which was torn down in the 2000s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mobile station (Amtrak)</span>

Mobile station was a train station in Mobile, Alabama. It was built in 1956 and demolished in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gulfport station</span> Closed Amtrak intercity train station in Gulfport, Mississippi

Gulfport station is a closed Amtrak intercity train station in Gulfport, Mississippi, United States. Gulfport is a former union station that served the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and Gulf and Ship Island Railroad.

The Louisville and Nashville Depot, or Louisville and Nashville Railroad Depot or Louisville and Nashville Passenger Station, Louisville and Nashville Railroad Passenger Depot or variations, may refer to the following former and active train stations previously used by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Some of these are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Royal Station (Maryland Institute College of Art)</span> University building and historical passenger rail station in Baltimore

The Mount Royal Station is a historic building in Baltimore, Maryland, which was the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's third train station in Baltimore, Maryland, and is now part of the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) campus. The station was at the north end of the Baltimore Belt Line's Howard Street tunnel in the Bolton Hill neighborhood. It was the first railroad station in the world to have electrified passenger trains when it opened on September 1, 1896, serving the B&O's famed Royal Blue line. Following its closure as a railroad station in 1961, it became part of the Maryland Institute College of Art, where it now houses the Middendorf Gallery, as well as studio and classroom space for the university's sculpture and fiber departments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgia State Railroad Museum</span> United States historic place

The Georgia State Railroad Museum is a museum in Savannah, Georgia located at a historic Central of Georgia Railway site. It includes parts of the Central of Georgia Railway: Savannah Shops and Terminal Facilities National Historic Landmark District. The complex is considered the most complete antebellum railroad complex in the United States. The museum, located at 655 Louisville Road, is part of a historic district included in the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central of Georgia Railway Company Shop Property</span> United States historic place

Central of Georgia Railway Company Shop Property is the former administration building of the Central of Georgia Railway. The site complex includes several notable structures, including a freight house, a cotton yard with brick gates which it shares with the Central of Georgia Depot and Trainshed, and a brick viaduct leading to a junction with the line along Louisville Road west of Boundary Street and the Savannah and Ogeechee Canal. The tracks were also located next to "The Gray Building," a Greek Revival structure built in 1856, which the C&G moved their headquarters to. This building became known as "The Red Building."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central of Georgia Depot and Trainshed (Savannah, Georgia)</span>

Central of Georgia Depot and Trainshed is a former passenger depot and trainshed constructed in 1860 by the Central of Georgia Railway (CofG) before the outbreak of the American Civil War. This pair of buildings was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976, a listing that was expanded in 1978 to the old Central of Georgia Railway Savannah Shops and Terminal Facilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mobile station (Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad)</span> United States historic place

The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Passenger Terminal is a historic train station in Mobile, Alabama, United States. Architect P. Thornton Marye designed the Mission Revival style terminal for the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. It was completed in 1907 at a total cost of $575,000. The Mobile and Ohio merged with the Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad in 1940 to form the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. 1 2 "Montgomery Union Station and Trainshed". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on January 11, 2008. Retrieved October 24, 2007.
  3. Zembala, Dennis M. Zembala (August 2, 1976), National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Louisville & Nashville Railroad: Montgomery Union Station and Trainshed/Montgomery Union Station (pdf), National Park Service and "Accompanying 5 photos, exterior and interior, from 1925, 1970, 1972, and 1974". (1.87 MB)