Union Station (Columbus, Georgia)

Last updated

Central of Georgia Railroad Terminal
Columbus, GA Union Station.jpg
Union Station in September 2025
Location1200 Sixth Avenue, Columbus, Georgia, U.S.
Coordinates 32°28′08″N84°59′04″W / 32.46896°N 84.98435°W / 32.46896; -84.98435
Built1901
Architect Bruce & Morgan
MPS Columbus MRA
NRHP reference No. 80001149 [1]
Added to NRHPSeptember 29, 1980

Columbus Union Station is a former union station in Columbus, Georgia that is now utilized as mixed-use development. The building was constructed in 1901 as the Central of Georgia Railroad Terminal and was designed in the Second Empire style by the architectural firm, Bruce and Morgan. The station hosted the Central Railroad of Georgia, the Seaboard Air Line Railroad and the Southern Railway. It is located at 1200 Sixth Avenue, directly north of 12th Street, in Downtown Columbus.

Contents

Location

Union Station is located at 1200 Sixth Avenue, directly north of 12th Street and two blocks east of Veterans Parkway (U.S. Route 27) on the east side of Downtown Columbus. The station occupies the entire southern half of the city block bounded by Sixth Avenue, 12th Street, 13th Street, and the former Central of Georgia railyard, which is currently used by Norfolk Southern. [2] [3] [4]

History

Union Station in its earliest years Columbus, Georgia Union Station (cropped).jpg
Union Station in its earliest years

The building was constructed in 1901 as the Central of Georgia Railroad Terminal and was designed in the Second Empire style by Atlanta-based architectural firm, Bruce and Morgan. The passenger terminal building replaced a terminal built in 1881 that was also operated by the Central of Georgia Railroad. [1]

Historic rail service

Seaboard Air Line

By 1932 Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL) passenger trains stopped calling at the station, as the railroad's operations through Columbus became freight-only. [5] The SAL previously had run passenger trains to Richland, then to Albany. [6]

At the opening of the 1940s service included: [7]

Southern Railway

Southern Railway operated a local train from Columbus to Atlanta via Warm Springs, Griffin, and McDonough. [8] Passenger service on this route was discontinued between 1946 and 1949. [9]

Central of Georgia

Additionally, the Central of Georgia operated local morning and afternoon trains from Birmingham through Columbus to Macon. [10] In the latter 1940s and early 1950s this became a night train route with trains going continuous beyond Macon to Savannah (Central of Georgia Depot). [11] By late 1953 all passenger service between Columbus and Macon had ended. [12]

The last trains operating out of Columbus in early 1971 were the Man O' War and the City of Miami. [13] Passenger services ended and the station closed, with the passing of passenger operations to Amtrak on May 1, 1971.

Use since the end of rail services

Union Station was nominated for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places as part of a Multiple Property Submission by the Lower Chattahoochee Valley Area Planning and Development Commission and Historic Columbus Foundation. [1] The station was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Despite its inclusion to the register, the building was vulnerable to demolition. Various activists, the Historic Columbus Foundation, Southern Railway System, and the Consolidated Government of Columbus mobilized to save the station. [4]

After the building was renovated in 1987, the station served as the corporate headquarters of financial technology company TSYS until 1999. [14] [15] Following TSYS's departure, the Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce began utilizing the building beginning in August 2001. By 2016, the station building was put up for sale once more. [14] Following it's sale for $1.1 million in 2024, the building was converted to mixed-use development in 2025 with the total cost of the remodeling project totaling about $5 million. Following the mixed-use conversion, the former station building contains apartments, offices, and an event space. [16]

References

Notes
  1. 1 2 3 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ↑ Insurance Maps of Columbus, Georgia (PDF) (Map). New York: Sanborn Map Company. June 1900. 29 inset. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  3. ↑ McGee, Brittany (September 5, 2025). "Columbus government sues Norfolk Southern and other railroad companies". Ledger-Enquirer . Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  4. 1 2 Cox 2011, p. 330.
  5. ↑ Official Guide of the Railways, Seaboard Air Line section, February 1932
  6. ↑ Official Guide of the Railways, June 1921, Seaboard Air Line section, Table 12
  7. ↑ "Central of Georgia Railway, Condensed Table, Tables 14, 15, 16". Official Guide of the Railways. 73 (7). National Railway Publication Company. December 1940.
  8. ↑ "Southern Railway, Table 55". Official Guide of the Railways. 73 (7). National Railway Publication Company. December 1940.
  9. ↑ "Southern Railway, Table 55". Official Guide of the Railways. 82 (3). National Railway Publication Company. August 1949.
  10. ↑ "Central of Georgia Railway, Table 16". Official Guide of the Railways. 73 (7). National Railway Publication Company. December 1940.
  11. ↑ "Central of Georgia Railway, Table 4". Official Guide of the Railways. 84 (7). National Railway Publication Company. December 1951.
  12. ↑ "Central of Georgia Railway". Official Guide of the Railways. 86 (7). National Railway Publication Company. December 1953.
  13. ↑ Trains magazine, 'Passenger trains operating on the eve of Amtrak' Archived 2021-02-24 at the Wayback Machine
  14. 1 2 Williams, Chuck (January 28, 2016). "Columbus chamber of commerce working deal to sell depot". Ledger-Enquirer . Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  15. ↑ "TSYS". Georgia Historical Society . n.d. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  16. ↑ Paul-Slater, Jordyn (August 4, 2025). "124-year-old Columbus depot restored in $5 million multiuse project". Ledger-Enquirer . Retrieved October 1, 2025.
Preceding station Central of Georgia Railway Following station
Phenix City
toward Birmingham
Birmingham – Fort Valley Muscogee
toward Fort Valley
Girard
toward Andalusia
Andalusia – Newnan Fortson
toward Newnan
Terminus Columbus – Americus Muscogee
toward Americus
Preceding station Southern Railway Following station
Terminus Columbus, GA – Atlanta Flat Rock
toward Atlanta Terminal
Preceding station Seaboard Air Line Railroad Following station
TerminusColumbus-St Marks Cusseta
toward St. Marks
Bibliography
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