Montgomery Union Station and Trainshed is a historic former train station in

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...

. Built in 1898 by the

Louisville and Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of ...

, rail service to the station ended in 1979 and it has since been adapted for use by the Montgomery Area Visitor Center and commercial tenants. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1973 and became a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1976.

History

Erected of brick and limestone on a high bluff along the

Alabama River The Alabama River, in the U.S. state of Alabama, is formed by the Tallapoosa River, Tallapoosa and Coosa River, Coosa rivers, which unite about north of Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery, near the town of Wetumpka, Alabama, Wetumpka. Over a co ...

, the station was built by

(L&N) in 1898. The station also served passenger trains of Atlantic Coast Line,

Western Railway of Alabama The Western Railway of Alabama (WRA) also seen as "WofA" was created as the Western Railroad of Alabama by the owners of the Montgomery & West Point Railroad (M&WP) in 1860. It was built to further the M&WP's development West from Montgomery, Al ...

Seaboard Air Line The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , known colloquially as the Seaboard Railroad during its time, was an American railroad that existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime ri ...

Central of Georgia The Central of Georgia Railway started as the Central Rail Road and Canal Company in 1833. As a way to better attract investment capital, the railroad changed its name to Central Rail Road and Banking Company of Georgia. This railroad was constr ...

, and

Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio was a Class I railroad in the central United States whose primary routes extended from Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans, Louisiana, to St. Louis, Missouri, St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, as well as Chicago, Illin ...

. The station had six tracks under a shed, with a coach yard on the south end of the station as well as a

Railway Express Agency Railway Express Agency (aka REA Express) (REA), founded as the American Railway Express Agency and later renamed the American Railway Express Inc., was a national package delivery service that operated in the United States from 1918 to 1975. REA ...

facility. The station's design segregated passengers by race and incorporated

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

elements. L&N trains using the station included the ''Azalean,'' ''Florida Arrow,'' ''

Humming Bird A hummingbird is a member of a family (Trochilidae) of very small birds. Hummingbird or Humming bird may also refer to: Music *The Hummingbirds, an Australian jangle pop band *Gibson Hummingbird, an acoustic guitar *Humming Bird Records, a reco ...

,'' ''

Pan-American Pan-American, Pan American, Panamerican, Pan-America, Pan America or Panamerica may refer to: * Collectively, the Americas: North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean * Something of, from, or related to the Americas * Pan-Amer ...

'' and ''

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.'' Traditionally, the Southern Railway's ''

Crescent A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase (as it appears in the northern hemisphere) in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hindu iconography, Hind ...

'' and ''

Piedmont Limited The ''Piedmont Limited'' was a named passenger train operated by the Southern Railway in the southern United States. For most of its life it was a New York—New Orleans train, operating over the same route as the more famous '' Crescent L ...

'' were routed through the station. The number of passenger trains using Union Station declined during the 1950s and 1960s. The last Southern Railway train, the ''Crescent,'' left in 1970 when that train was rerouted north through Birmingham. The ''Pan American'' ended in 1971 when the L&N yielded passenger operations to Amtrak. When

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

came into existence in 1971, it continued passenger service through Montgomery with a single train (the ''

'', later renamed the '' Floridian''), operating between

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. 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

in 1976, for its importance in the state's railroad transportation history, and for the train shed, a rare surviving example of a 19th-century gable-roofed shed (most of which were later replaced by balloon sheds). and Amtrak returned to Montgomery in 1989 with an extension of the ''

'' called the ''

Gulf Breeze Gulf Breeze is a city in Santa Rosa County, Florida. It is located between Downtown Pensacola and Pensacola Beach, and is part of the Pensacola Metropolitan Area. The population was 6,340 at the 2020 census, up from 5,763 at the 2010 census. ...

'' from

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

to Mobile, but Union Station was not used. Instead, Amtrak contracted with a

travel agent A travel agency is a private Retailing, retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related Service (economics), services to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel supply chain, suppliers to offer different kin ...

who occupied a former grain

silo A silo () is a structure for storing Bulk material handling, bulk materials. Silos are commonly used for bulk storage of grain, coal, cement, carbon black, woodchips, food products and sawdust. Three types of silos are in widespread use toda ...

nearby. This Amtrak service was terminated in 1995, and Montgomery has had no passenger rail service since. Among other tenants, Union Station hosted the Montgomery Area Visitor Center, until it moved to its current location at 1 Court Square.

Gallery

file:VIEW LOOKING WEST FROM INTERIOR - Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Union Station Train Shed, Water Street, opposite Lee Street, Montgomery, Montgomery County, AL HAER ALA,51-MONG,23A-11.tif, Looking West, Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Union Station Train Shed File:3-4 VIEW OF TRAINSHED LOOKING SOUTHEAST - Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Union Station Train Shed, Water Street, opposite Lee Street, Montgomery, Montgomery County, AL HAER ALA,51-MONG,23A-4.tif, Union Station Train Shed, 1974 File:3-4 VIEW LOOKING NORTHWEST - Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Union Station Train Shed, Water Street, opposite Lee Street, Montgomery, Montgomery County, AL HAER ALA,51-MONG,23A-6.tif, Union Station Train Shed, 1974 File:Montgomery Alabama Union Station Trainshed on June 9, 1987 (22370799387).jpg, Union Station Train Shed, 1987 File:Union Station Montgomery 2008.JPG, Union Station in 2008 File:Montgomery Union Station trainshed 2008.JPG, The interior of the train shed in 2008. Aerial view of Montgomery, Alabama LCCN2011646679.tif, Aerial view of the station (2010)

References

External links

*http://www.visitingmontgomery.com * * {{National Register of Historic Places in Alabama National Register of Historic Places in Montgomery, Alabama Buildings and structures in Montgomery, Alabama Former Amtrak stations in Alabama Historic American Engineering Record in Alabama National Historic Landmarks in Alabama Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama Railway stations in the United States opened in 1898 Union stations in the United States Transportation in Montgomery, Alabama Romanesque Revival architecture in Alabama Former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad stations Former Seaboard Air Line Railroad stations Former Mobile and Ohio Railroad stations Former Louisville and Nashville Railroad stations Former Central of Georgia Railway stations Railroad-related National Historic Landmarks Transportation buildings and structures in Montgomery County, Alabama Railway stations in the United States closed in 1979

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links