Kansas City Union Station, Pride Of The City

Kansas City Union Station has its beginnings dating back as early as 1901 when the Kansas City Terminal Railway (owned by the twelve major railroads which served the city) determined that an updated, larger station was needed. The railroads that served Kansas City and ultimately chipped in on the station’s funding included the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway (Frisco), Santa Fe, the Burlington Route, Milwaukee Road, Rock Island, Union Pacific, Chicago Great Western, Gulf, Mobile & Ohio, Kansas City Southern, Missouri Pacific, and Wabash.

The building itself was constructed by architect Jarvis Hunt in the Beaux-Arts style employing wide open spaces and ornate decorations on the walls and ceilings, including a magnificent clock in the Grand Hall and three huge chandeliers. It took several years to complete the building but it finally opened in October of 1914 after eight years of construction. The station was impressive to say the least with marble and terra cotta used throughout its construction, three different sub-levels, restaurants, barbershops, offices for the owning railroads, a jail, and the building was even powered by its power plant!

Naturally, some of the most well remembered passenger trains called to the station including the Super Chief (Santa Fe), the Rocket (Rock Island), Southern Belle (KCS), Colorado Eagle (MoPac), City of St. Louis (Union Pacific), and the Kansas City Zephyr (Burlington) just to name a few.

As has happened to almost all stations and depots across the country starting in the 1950s, Kansas City Union Station began to lose its luster as rail travel was displaced by the automobile and airplane. By the 1970s the building was beginning to show serious neglect even though it had been placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. Things got so bad that by 1985 Amtrak, operator of intercity passenger rail services since 1971, decided to move out into a smaller building.

While the building sat all but empty over the next decade it was saved by the people of Kansas City when they approved a 1/8-cent sales tax that helped to partially fund the station’s restoration, which began in 1997 and was completed by 1999. Today, Kansas City Union Station has been completely restored to its 1914 opening appearance, right down to the authentic light fixtures! Once again the pride of the city the station is well worth the visit if you are in town.

For more information about Kansas City Union Station please visit their official website by clicking here.

For more reading about railroad stations you might want to consider a copy of Railroad Stations from author Brian Solomon. While the book is just a very general overview of some of the great stations that once stood in this country it is quite good with lots of historical photographs, including that of Grand Central Terminal and the late Pennsylvania Station (it also gives a history of the thousands of small depots that existed in most communities). All in all if you’re interested in stations and depots you’re sure to enjoy Mr. Solomon’s book on the subject.