Union Station - Lockport, NY - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

Union Station in Lockport was built in 1888 and was one of the oldest train stations in the Western New York area. The station closed as a rail passenger station in 1957, and became a restaurant. There was a fire in the dining room in 1972, and again in 1978. After the second fire, the resataurant closed and the building was abandoned. Today, there is no roof, no flooring, and the exterior is crumbling.

The rail station was a part of the New York Central Railroad. Up through the end of the 1940's there was a fair amount of activity here at a time when Lockport not only had busy rail freight service but daily passenger service. New York Central trains came in here and connected with the nation's major rail centers. Families would gather at the terminal to greet or bid farewell to loved ones coming and going out of "Lockport World Center." Western Union was located here during decades when the "telegram" was the quickest means of written communication. Western Union wires were strung on poles along railroad right-of-ways and some still remain up to this day, although most are inactive.

Efforts have been made by the Union Station Development Corporation to restore the station. Over the course of many years, nearly a million dollars has been raised from government grants, loans, and private donations however this wasn't nearly enough. In December of 1999, the efforts to restore the station were called off.

Street address: 95 Union Ave Lockport, NY United States 14094 County / Borough / Parish: Architecture/Engineering, Event Year listed: 1977 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture, Transportation Periods of significance: 1875-1899 Historic function: Transportation: Rail-Related Current function: Vacant Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 1: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   05/05/2009 miatabug visited it 03/31/2007 Med14Ross visited it

View all visits/logs