Montgomery Union Station

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Montgomery Union Station
inter-city rail station
Union Station Montgomery.JPG
Union Station Montgomery, circa 1900.
Location Montgomery, Alabama
USA
History
Opened 1898
Closed 1979
Montgomery Union Station and Trainshed
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Built 1897
Architect Benjamin Bosworth Smith
Architectural style Other, Romanesque
NRHP Reference # 73000368
Significant dates
Added to NRHP July 24, 1973[1]
Designated NHL December 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.

History

Erected of brick and limestone on a high bluff along the Alabama River, the station was built by Louisville and Nashville Railroad 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 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.

File: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

The number of passenger trains using Union Station declined during the 1950s and 1960s. 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.

File: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.

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.[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 currently hosts the Montgomery Area Visitor Center.

Gallery

  • VIEW LOOKING WEST FROM INTERIOR - Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Union Station Train Shed, Water Street, opposite Lee Street, Montgomery, Montgomery County, AL HAER ALA,51-MONG,23A-11.tif

    Looking West, Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Union Station Train Shed

  • 3-4 VIEW OF TRAINSHED LOOKING SOUTHEAST - Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Union Station Train Shed, Water Street, opposite Lee Street, Montgomery, Montgomery County, AL HAER ALA,51-MONG,23A-4.tif

    Union Station Train Shed, 1974

  • 3-4 VIEW LOOKING NORTHWEST - Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Union Station Train Shed, Water Street, opposite Lee Street, Montgomery, Montgomery County, AL HAER ALA,51-MONG,23A-6.tif

    Union Station Train Shed, 1974

  • 3-4 VIEW LOOKING SOUTHEAST, TRAINSHED WITH STATION BEHIND - Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Union Station Train Shed, Water Street, opposite Lee Street, Montgomery, Montgomery County, AL HAER ALA,51-MONG,23A-3.tif

    Union Station Train Shed, 1974

  • Union Station in 2008

  • Montgomery Union Station trainshed 2008.JPG

    The interior of the train shed in 2008.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. and Accompanying 5 photos, exterior and interior, from 1925, 1970, 1972, and 1974. PDF (1.87 MB)

External links

Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons

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