St. Louis Union Station - St. Louis, Missouri
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 38° 37.763 W 090° 12.437
15S E 743104 N 4279350
St. Louis Union Station is considered by many experts to be the grandest and the most important railway edifice erected before the close of the 19th-century.
Waymark Code: WMN17
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 08/21/2006
Views: 130
St. Louis Union Station completed in 1894 at a cost of $6.5 million, was
designed by Theodore Link in an eclectic mix of Romanesque styles. The headhouse,
two blocks in length, featured numerous amenities including a luxurious hotel, a
saloon, a dining hall, lunch rooms, gender-oriented lounges, a ticket office,
several offices for the Terminal Railroad Association, and the world's first
barrel-vaulted train station concourse, or "Grand Hall." The Grand Hall is
lighted by stained glass windows depicting the meeting of the East and West.
The train shed, 11.5 acres of sweeping arches, was the largest single-span train
shed ever constructed and was designed by George H. Pegram. The train shed
measuring 700 by 606 feet and supporting the operation of thirty-two terminating
tracks, later expanded to forty-two tracks whose total length came to 18 miles.
During its operating peak, the station served 19 railroad companies and 260
trains per day.
With the growing popularity of automobiles and aircraft as
alternatives modes of transportation, St. Louis Union Station eventually fell
into disuse by the late 1970's. After being vacant for seven years St. Louis
Union Station under went a $150 million restoration and was reopened in 1985 as
a modern commercial center with mall of shops, restaurants and a luxury
hotel.
St. Louis Union Station was listed as a
National Historic Landmark in 1970.
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