Muskegon station

Last updated

Union Depot
Union Depot (Muskegon, Michigan).jpg
The railway station in December 2023
USA Michigan location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location610 Western Ave., Muskegon, Michigan
Coordinates 43°13′59″N86°15′28″W / 43.23306°N 86.25778°W / 43.23306; -86.25778
Arealess than one acre
Built1895 (1895)
Built byRowson Brothers & Company
ArchitectSidney J. Osgood, Amos W. Rush
Architectural style Richardsonian Romanesque
NRHP reference No. 00001489 [1]
Added to NRHPDecember 7, 2000

The Union Depot is a railway station located at 610 Western Avenue in Muskegon, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. [1] It is now the Muskegon County Convention & Visitor's Bureau.

Contents

History

In 1871, the Michigan Lake Shore Railroad was built, connecting Muskegon with Chicago. This railroad was later folded in the Chicago and West Michigan Railroad. In the 1880s, two more rail lines were extended into Muskegon: the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad and the Toledo, Saginaw and Muskegon Railway. However, by the early 1890s, the depot located on Third Street was badly in need of refurbishing. In 1893, all three railways and the city agreed that constructing a new depot would be in the best interests of all parties, particularly with the rise in excursion traffic to local resorts. [2]

In 1893, architect Sidney J. Osgood developed plans for this new depot. Architect Amos W. Rush soon took over the project, but actual construction was delayed until 1894 due to the Panic of 1893. The depot was completed and opened in 1895. The depot was taken over by the Pere Marquette Railroad, in 1899. Despite the Union Depot name, by the 1930s, the Toledo, Saginaw and Muskegon Railway (being absorbed by the Grand Trunk Western) trains were by that point using a different station in the city. [3] By 1938, the trains of the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, by then acquired by the Pennsylvania Railroad were moved over to the same station as the Grand Trunk trains. [4] Union Depot was the destination of one of the sections of the Pere Marquette's Night Express from Chicago. [5]

Eventually the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) when C&O absorbed the Pere Marquette Railroad in 1947. However, with the growth of the automobile, passenger railway service declined, and the depot ceased passenger operation in 1971. Freight service continued for two more years, but the building stood vacant from 1978 until the early 1990s, when it was donated to Muskegon County. In 1990, the depot was designated as a Michigan Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The building was restored in 1994 and 1995, and reopened as the Muskegon County Convention & Visitor's Bureau. [2]

Description

The Muskegon Union Depot is a two-story Richardsonian Romanesque railroad station with a connected four-story tower and a massive hipped roof. The walls are constructed from red brick and rock-face sandstone, and the roof eaves flare outward from the main mass of the building. The building is nearly symmetrical, with only a portion of the structure that formerly housed the baggage room extending to one side to break the symmetry. The main entry is through a deep portico formed by a massive sandstone arch. The side elevations have overhanging roofs, creating deep entry porches that approach the platform in the rear of the building. The rear elevation contains a half-hexagonal bay formerly housing the ticket office. [2]

On the interior, the main waiting room contains a large ornamental brick fireplace with a wood mantel, and the walls contain quarter-sawn oak woodwork and wainscot paneling with egg and dart trim. The ceiling is covered with original pressed metal panels. The original ladies' waiting room has been converted into an exhibit space, and the original gentlemen's smoking room has also been converted into an exhibit space. The second floor is less than half the size of the first floor, and was originally used as railroad offices and storage. It now contains a large conference room, small restrooms, offices, storage, and a boiler room. The upper floors of the tower are now used only for mechanical systems. [2]

Related Research Articles

The Pere Marquette Railway was a railroad that operated in the Great Lakes region of the United States and southern parts of Ontario in Canada. It had trackage in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and the Canadian province of Ontario. Its primary connections included Buffalo; Toledo; and Chicago. The company was named after Jacques Marquette, a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste Marie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Trunk Western Railroad</span> American railroad

The Grand Trunk Western Railroad Company was an American subsidiary of the Grand Trunk Railway, later of the Canadian National Railway operating in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Since a corporate restructuring in 1971, the railroad has been under CN's subsidiary holding company, the Grand Trunk Corporation. Grand Trunk Western's routes are part of CN's Michigan Division. Its primary mainline between Chicago and Port Huron, Michigan serves as a connection between railroad interchanges in Chicago and rail lines in eastern Canada and the Northeastern United States. The railroad's extensive trackage in Detroit and across southern Michigan has made it an essential link for the automotive industry as a hauler of parts and automobiles from manufacturing plants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Central Station (Chicago)</span> Train station in Chicago, Illinois, US

Grand Central Station was a passenger railroad terminal in downtown Chicago, Illinois, from 1890 to 1969. It was located at 201 West Harrison Street on a block bounded by Harrison, Wells and Polk Streets and the Chicago River in the southwestern portion of the Chicago Loop. Grand Central Station was designed by architect Solon Spencer Beman for the Wisconsin Central Railroad (WC), and was completed by the Chicago and Northern Pacific Railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Trunk Milwaukee Car Ferry Company</span>

The Grand Trunk Milwaukee Car Ferry Company was the Grand Trunk Western Railroad's subsidiary company operating its Lake Michigan railroad car ferry operations between Muskegon, Michigan, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from 1905 to 1978. Major railroad companies in Michigan used rail ferry vessels to transport rail cars across Lake Michigan from Michigan's western shore to eastern Wisconsin to avoid rail traffic congestion in Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Durand Union Station</span> Train station in Durand, Michigan, USA

Durand Union Station is a historic train station in Durand, Michigan. The station, which now serves Amtrak Blue Water trains, was originally a busy Grand Trunk Western Railroad and Ann Arbor Railroad hub, as well as a local office for Grand Trunk Western, from its construction in 1903 until 1974. It is currently owned by the city of Durand and leased by Durand Union Station, Inc. a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation, restoration, and maintenance of the building and its surrounding property.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holland station (Michigan)</span> Train station in Michigan, United States

Holland station, also known as the Padnos Transportation Center, is an intermodal transit station in Holland, Michigan. It serves Amtrak's Pere Marquette line and is the central hub for Macatawa Area Express (MAX) buses. The facility includes a ticket machine and a waiting room.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Depot (Lansing, Michigan)</span>

The Union Depot is a former train station, located at 637 E. Michigan Avenue in Lansing, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. Despite the union name, Grand Trunk Western trains stopped at a different station in Lansing 1.5 miles away.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackson station (Michigan)</span>

Jackson station is a historic Amtrak station in Jackson, Michigan, United States. It is served by three daily Wolverine trains between Chicago and Pontiac and a single daily Amtrak Thruway bus between Toledo, Detroit, Jackson, and East Lansing. The station was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

The Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad (F&PM) is a defunct railroad which operated in the U.S. state of Michigan between 1857 and 1899. It was one of the three companies which merged to become the Pere Marquette Railway.

The Toledo Division was the southern half of the Pere Marquette Railway's main line, which ran from Ludington, Michigan to Toledo, Ohio. The Toledo Division encompassed the portion which ran from Toledo north to Saginaw, Michigan, where it met the Ludington Division. The line was built by a predecessor of the PM, the Flint & Pere Marquette, and is currently owned by CSX Transportation.

The Plymouth Subdivision is a freight railroad line in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is owned by CSX. It connects the Plymouth Diamond at milepost CH 24.5 to Grand Rapids at CH 148.1, passing through the Lansing metropolitan area en route. Other towns served include South Lyon, Brighton, Howell, Fowlerville, Williamston, Grand Ledge, Lake Odessa, Clarksville, and Alto. Operationally, it is part of the CSX Chicago Division, dispatched from Jacksonville, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Saginaw station</span> Railroad Station in Saginaw, Michigan

The Flint & Pere Marquette Union Station, commonly known as the Potter Street Station, is a former railroad station built in 1881 and used until 1950 located at 501 Potter Street in Saginaw, Michigan, United States. It was designed by New York City architect Bradford Lee Gilbert. The station is 285 feet by 40 feet with 2½ stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Street Union Depot</span>

The Fort Street Union Depot was a passenger train station located at the southwest corner of West Fort Street and Third Street in downtown Detroit, Michigan. It served the city from 1893 to 1971, then demolished in 1974. Today, the downtown campus of Wayne County Community College occupies the site.

<i>Pere Marquette</i> (C&O train) American streamlined passenger train

The Pere Marquette was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Pere Marquette Railway and its successor the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) between Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan. It operated from 1946 to 1971. It was the first new streamliner to enter service after World War II. Although discontinued in 1971 on the formation of Amtrak, in 1984 Amtrak revived the name for a new train between Chicago, Illinois and Grand Rapids.

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

The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Station is a railway depot located in Pioneer Park on West Lake Street in Petoskey, Michigan. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. The building now houses the Little Traverse Historical Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlevoix station (Michigan)</span> United States historic place

The Chicago and West Michigan Railroad Charlevoix Station is a railroad depot located on Chicago Avenue in Charlevoix, Michigan. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Trunk Western Railroad Grand Haven Coal Tipple</span> United States historic place

The Grand Trunk Western Railroad Grand Haven Coal Tipple is a coaling tower designed to feed coal to steam locomotives located on the 300 block of North Harbor Drive in Grand Haven, Michigan. It is the tallest structure in the city. The coal tipple was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bay City station</span> United States historic place

The Bay City Station of the Pere Marquette Railway, also known as The Depot Building, is a former railroad depot located at 919 Boutell Place in Bay City, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Rapids Union Station</span> Railway station

Grands Rapids Union Station was a union station in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A Georgian Revival building of two stories, it was built in 1900 and was closed in 1958 and demolished over 1958 and 1959 to make space for a highway. Its address was 61 Ionia Avenue. It was a hub serving a few railroads going to different points in Michigan and other points in the Midwest.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Grace A.M. Smith (November 30, 1999), NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES REGISTRATION FORM: Union Depot
  3. Official Guide of the Railways, February 1932, Index of Railroad Stations, 1624
  4. Official Guide of the Railways, August 1938, Index of Railroad Stations, 1430
  5. Official Guide of the Railways, August 1938, Pere Marquette section, Tables 1, 11

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Union Depot (Muskegon, Michigan) at Wikimedia Commons

Preceding station Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Following station
Berry
toward Pentwater
PentwaterAllegan Muskegon Heights
toward Allegan