The Pennsylvania Railroad Station in

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

, also known as Baker Street Station, is a former passenger rail station in downtown

. The American Craftsman-style station opened to the public March 23, 1914, at a cost of $550,000. ''Note:'' This includes and Accompanying photographs

History

The station saw its most heavy usage during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, when about 3,000 visitors passed through the station daily. The station was also frequented by politicians on

whistle stop train tour A whistle stop or whistle-stop tour is a style of political campaigning where the politician makes a series of brief appearances or speeches at a number of small towns over a short period of time. Originally, whistle-stop appearances were made ...

s, including U.S. Presidents Harding, Coolidge, Hoover,

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

, Truman, and

Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

. Until 1957 a Grand Rapids originating branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad's

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-Florida ''

Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada * Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Southland Region, a region of New Zealand * Southland County, a former New Zealand county * Southland District, part of the wider Southland Re ...

'' made a stop in at the station, and picked up passengers from a connecting

Wabash Railroad The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including track in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Missouri and the province of Ontario. Its primary co ...

train from

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. Until 1961 the PRR's

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

Mackinaw City, Michigan Mackinaw City ( ) is a village in Emmet and Cheboygan counties in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 846 at the 2010 census, the population increases during summertime, including an influx of tourists and seasonal workers who serve ...

'' Northern Arrow'' also made a stop there, and picked up connecting passenger rail cars from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Until 1971 the

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...

ran the ''

Broadway Limited The ''Broadway Limited'' was a passenger train operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) between New York City and Chicago. It operated from 1912 to 1995. It was the Pennsylvania's premier train, competing directly with the New York Central ...

'' and several other

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

passenger trains, '' Admiral,'' '' Manhattan Limited'' and ''Pennsylvania Limited'' through the station. In the second half of the 20th century, the station served as a stop on

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

's ''

'' (Chicago—Pittsburgh—New York) and ''

Capitol Limited The ''Capitol Limited'' is a daily Amtrak train between Washington, D.C., and Chicago, running via Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Service began in 1981 and was named after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's ''Capitol Limited'' which ended in 197 ...

'' (Chicago–Pittsburgh–Washington) lines until November 1990 when Amtrak was forced to reroute about north of Fort Wayne. The nearest active passenger train station is Waterloo (for the ''Capitol Limited''), 32 miles to the north. Penn Station Ft W IN 1

Today, Baker Street Station's concourse is used as a

banquet hall A banquet hall, function hall, or reception hall, is a special purpose room, or a building, used for hosting large social and business events. Typically a banquet hall is capable of serving dozens to hundreds of people a meal in a timely fashion. Pe ...

and community events space, while the east and west wings have been converted into office space. Over the last decade, residents and local leaders have begun a movement to bring passenger rail service back to the city and station in the form of Amtrak or other high-speed rail service. Although the station has been without passenger rail service for over 30 years, it has remained a landmark to the city, designated a Fort Wayne Local Historic District in 1990. and later, was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1998 as the Pennsylvania Railroad Station.

References

External links

*
Baker Street Station
National Register of Historic Places in Fort Wayne, Indiana Buildings and structures in Fort Wayne, Indiana Transportation in Fort Wayne, Indiana Former Pennsylvania Railroad stations Former Amtrak stations in Indiana Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Indiana Railway stations in the United States opened in 1914 American Craftsman architecture in Indiana Arts and Crafts architecture in the United States Railway stations closed in 1990 Transportation buildings and structures in Allen County, Indiana 1914 establishments in Indiana Former Wabash Railroad stations {{AllenCountyIN-NRHP-stub