Union Station (Montgomery)

Infobox_nrhp
name = Montgomery Union Station and Trainshed
nrhp_type = nhl


caption = Historic American Buildings Survey photo of Union Station in Montgomery.
location = Montgomery, Alabama
lat_degrees = 32
lat_minutes = 22
lat_seconds = 49.47
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 86
long_minutes = 18
long_seconds = 52.29
long_direction = W
locmapin = Alabama
area =
built = 1897
architect = Benjamin Bosworth Smith
architecture = Other, Romanesque
designated = December 08, 1976cite web |url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1320&ResourceType=Structure
title=Montgomery Union Station and Trainshed |accessdate=2007-10-24 |work=National Historic Landmark summary listing |publisher=National Park Service]
added = July 24, 1973cite web |url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/ |title=National Register Information System |date=2007-01-23 |work=National Register of Historic Places |publisher=National Park Service]
governing_body = Local
refnum = 73000368

Union Station, also known as Montgomery Union Station or Montgomery Union Station and Trainshed, in Montgomery was built by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and opened in 1898. Erected of brick and limestone on a high bluff along the Alabama River, the station also served passenger trains of Atlantic Coast Line, Western Railway of Alabama, Seaboard Air Line, Central of Georgia, and Gulf Mobile & Ohio. 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.

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.

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 The train shed still stands, although tracks under it have been replaced by asphalt parking.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.citation |title=PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/73000368.pdf National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Louisville & Nashville Railroad : Montgomery Union Station and Trainshed/Montgomery Union Station] |465 KB |date=August 2, 1976 |author=Dennis M. Zembala |publisher=National Park Service and PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Photos/73000368.pdf Accompanying 5 photos, exterior and interior, from 1925, 1970, 1972, and 1974.] |1.87 MB]

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 near Union Station. 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.

See also

* List of National Historic Landmarks in Alabama

References

* http://www.visitingmontgomery.com
* http://www.oldalabamarails.org