Union Station is a historic

train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing suc ...

, currently serving as a

bus station A bus station or a bus interchange is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. While the term bus depot can also be used to refer to a bus station, it generally refers to a bus garage. A bus station is l ...

, located in

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

Forsyth County, North Carolina Forsyth County is located in the northwest Piedmont of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 382,590, making it the fourth-most populous county in North Carolina. Its county seat is Winston-Salem. Forsyth ...

History

The station was built to service the

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

Norfolk and Western The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisio ...

and

Winston-Salem Southbound Railway The Winston-Salem Southbound Railway is a short-line railroad jointly owned by CSX Transportation and the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS), which provide it with equipment. It connects with NS at the north end in Winston-Salem, CSX at the south ...

s. It was designed by Fellhimer & Wagner and built between 1924 and 1926. It is a one to three story, banked Beaux-Arts style steel frame building faced with brick and

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. It consists of a rectangular main body, five bays wide and eight bays deep, with a large square east wing. The front facade features a limestone

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

supported by paired heroic columns with stylized

Corinthian order The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...

capitals. Surrounding the building are some surviving original landscape features. The station served as the city's sole passenger train station between 1926 and 1970. The station was sold to Harvey Davis in 1975, and he converted the building into an automobile repair business called Davis Garage. It was listed on 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 v ...

in 1998. Winston-Salem acquired the building in 2012 through eminent-domain, with a long term goal of reestablishing passenger train service to the city. In 2018 the city hired Walter Robbs Callahan & Pierce Architects and New Atlantic Contracting to restore the station, and it had a grand reopening on September 7, 2019.

Services

Union Station currently serves as a secondary bus hub for the Winston-Salem Transit Authority, after the Clark Campbell Transportation Center.

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's Route 1 stops at the station, and in conjunction with PART's Route 3, serves as an

Amtrak Thruway Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, transit ...

connector to

High Point station High Point station is an intermodal transit station in High Point, North Carolina, United States. Its main building serves as an Amtrak train station, while the Broad Avenue Terminal serves as the bus terminus for both High Point Transit System ...

. On December 8, 2023, the

Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce rail saf ...

included an Amtrak route connecting Winston-Salem to

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

into the Corridor Identification and Development Program. The proposed route would include intermediate stops at

Greensboro Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...

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Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

, and

Cary Cary may refer to: Places ;United States * Cary, Illinois, part of the Chicago metropolitan area * Cary, Indiana, part of the Indianapolis metropolitan area * Cary, Miami County, Indiana * Cary, Maine * Cary, Mississippi * Cary, North Carolina ...

, complementing the existing state-supported ''

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

'' and '' Carolinian'' services. The

North Carolina Department of Transportation The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is responsible for building, repairing, and operating highways, bridges, and other modes of transportation, including ferries in the U.S. state of North Carolina. History The North Carolina ...

was granted $500,000 toward engineering and feasibility studies for the route.

Station layout

The station has three levels, with the highest level at-grade with Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and the lowest level along

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

's K-Line. The street level, historically known as the concourse level, has the station's waiting room. The middle level is unoccupied, and the city intends on leasing out the space. The City of Winston-Salem Department of Transportation offices and Traffic Management Center occupies the station's lowest floor.

References

External links

*
Local Historic Landmark Program - Union Station
Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Beaux-Arts architecture in North Carolina Railway stations in the United States opened in 1926 Buildings and structures in Winston-Salem, North Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Former Norfolk and Western Railway stations Former railway stations in North Carolina Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach stations in North Carolina Railway stations closed in 1970 {{ForsythCountyNC-NRHP-stub