St. Louis Union Station is a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

train station in St. Louis, Missouri. At its 1894 opening, the station was the largest in the world that had tracks and passenger service areas all on one level. Traffic peaked at 100,000 people a day in the 1940s. The last

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. ...

passenger train left the station in 1978. In the 1980s, it was renovated as a hotel,

shopping center A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...

, and entertainment complex. The 2010s and 2020s saw more renovation and expansion of entertainment and office capacity. The current hotel portion of the station is currently a member o
Historic Hotels of America
the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. An adjacent station serves the light-rail MetroLink Red and Blue Lines, which run under the station in the Union Station subway tunnel. The city's intercity train station sits a quarter-mile to the south, serving MetroLink,

, and Greyhound Bus.

History

1800s

The station was opened on September 1, 1894, by the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis. The station was designed by

Theodore Link Theodore C. Link, FAIA, (March 17, 1850 – November 12, 1923) was a German-born American architect and newspaper publisher. He designed buildings for the 1904 World's Fair, Louisiana State University, and the Mississippi State Capitol. Early ...

, and included three main areas: the Headhouse and the Midway, and the Train Shed designed by civil engineer George H. Pegram. The headhouse originally housed a hotel, a restaurant, passenger waiting rooms and railroad ticketing offices. It featured a gold-leafed Grand Hall, Romanesque arches, a barrel-vaulted ceiling and stained-glass windows. The

clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another buildi ...

is high. Union Station's headhouse and midway are constructed of

Indiana limestone Indiana limestone — also known as Bedford limestone in the building trade — has long been an economically important building material, particularly for monumental public structures. Indiana limestone is a more common term for Salem Limestone, ...

and initially included 32 tracks under its vast

trainshed A train shed is a building adjacent to a station building where the tracks and platforms of a railway station are covered by a roof. It is also known as an overall roof. Its primary purpose is to store and protect from the elements train car ...

terminating in the stub-end terminal. Its Grand Hall, which cost around $6.5 million and was about 75 by 125 feet large, was considered to be one of the most beautiful public lobbies. At its opening, it was the world's largest and busiest railroad station and its trainshed was the largest roof span in the world.

1900s

Fanciful_drawing_by_Marguerite_Martyn_of_a_newlywed_couple_at_St

In 1903, Union Station was expanded to accommodate visitors to the

1904 St. Louis World's Fair The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds totaling $15 milli ...

. In the 1920s, it remained the largest American railroad terminal. At its height, the station combined the St. Louis passenger services of 22 railroads, the most of any single terminal in the world. In the 1940s, it handled 100,000 passengers a day. The famous photograph of Harry S. Truman holding aloft the erroneous ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' headline, "

Dewey Defeats Truman "Dewey Defeats Truman" was an incorrect banner headline on the front page of the ''Chicago Daily Tribune'' (later ''Chicago Tribune'') on November 3, 1948, the day after incumbent United States president Harry S. Truman won an upset victory ...

", was shot at the station as Truman headed back to Washington, D.C., from

Independence, Missouri Independence is the fifth-largest city in Missouri and the county seat of Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson County. Independence is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metro ...

, after the 1948 Presidential election. The 1940s expansion added a new ticket counter designed as a half-circle and a mural by

Louis Grell Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ...

could be found atop the customer waiting area which depicted the history of St. Louis with an old fashion steam engine, two large steamboats and the

Eads Bridge The Eads Bridge is a combined road and railway bridge over the Mississippi River connecting the cities of St. Louis, Missouri and East St. Louis, Illinois. It is located on the St. Louis riverfront between Laclede's Landing, to the north, and ...

in the background. As

airliner An airliner is a type of aircraft for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an ai ...

s became the primary mode of long-distance travel and railroad passenger services declined in the 1950s and 1960s, the massive station became obsolete and too expensive to maintain for its original purpose. By 1961, several tracks had been paved over for parking.

took over passenger service in 1971, but abandoned Union Station on October 31, 1978. By then, Amtrak had cut back service to four routes per day–the '' State House,'' the ''

Ann Rutledge Ann Mayes Rutledge (January 7, 1813 – August 25, 1835) was allegedly Abraham Lincoln's first love. Early life Born near Henderson, Kentucky, Ann Mayes Rutledge was the third of 10 children born to Mary Ann Miller Rutledge and James Rutledge ...

,'' the '' National Limited'' (formerly the '' Spirit of St. Louis'') and the '' Inter-American.'' The eight total trains were nowhere near enough to justify the use of such a large facility. The last train to leave Union Station was a Chicago-bound ''Inter-American.'' Passenger service shifted to a temporary-style "Amshack" two blocks east. Amtrak has since moved its St. Louis service to the

Gateway Transportation Center The Gateway Multimodal Transportation Center, also known as Gateway Station, is a rail and bus terminal station in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. Opened in 2008 and operating 24 hours a day, it serves Amtrak trains and Greyhound and Burlington T ...

, one block east of Union Station. The source says there were three daily trains when there were actually four. The station was designated a

in 1970, as an important surviving example of large-scale railroad architecture from the late 19th century. It was designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the

American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

in 1981. In August 1985, after a $150 million renovation designed by HOK, Union Station was reopened with a 539-room hotel, shopping mall, restaurants and food court. Federal historic rehabilitation tax credits were used to transform Union Station into one of the city's most visited attractions. The station rehabilitation by

Conrad Schmitt Studios Conrad Schmitt Studios is an architectural arts studio located in New Berlin, Wisconsin. It provides ecclesiastical art, stained glass artistry, art glass, decorative painting, mosaics, murals and sculptural arts. The studio specializes in rest ...

remains one of the largest adaptive re-use projects in the United States. The hotel is housed in the headhouse and part of the train shed, which also houses a lake and shopping, entertainment and dining establishments
Omni Hotels
was the original hotel operator, followed by

Hyatt Regency Hotel Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American multinational hospitality company headquartered in the Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchises luxury and business hotels, resorts, and vaca ...

chain and

Marriott Hotels Marriott Hotels & Resorts is Marriott International's brand of full-service hotels and resorts based in Bethesda, Maryland. As of June 30, 2020, there were 582 hotels and resorts with 205,053 rooms operating under the brand, in addition to 160 ...

2000s

In 2010–11, the station's Marriott Hotel in the main terminal building was expanded. It took over the station's Midway area; all stores were moved to the train shed shopping arcade. In 2012, Lodging Hospitality Management bought Union Station and rebranded the hotel as a

DoubleTree DoubleTree by Hilton is an American hotel chain managed by Hilton Worldwide. DoubleTree has been the fastest growing Hilton brand by number of properties since 2007, and by number of rooms from 2007 to 2015. As of December 31, 2019, it has 587 p ...

. In August 2016, Lodging Hospitality Management announced plans to renovate Union Station once again, included plans for an aquarium. The Memories Museum features artifacts and displays about the history of St. Louis Union Station and rail travel in the United States. Located on the upper level of the train shed, the museum is a joint project of Union Station Associates and the

National Museum of Transportation The National Museum of Transportation (NMOT) is a private, 42-acre transportation museum in the Kirkwood suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1944, it restores, preserves, and displays a wide variety of vehicles spanning 15 decades of Amer ...

. The original architectural drawings and blueprints for Union Station and the original hotel are available to researchers at the Washington University Archives at Washington University in St. Louis. Some architectural elements from the building have been removed in renovations and taken to the

Sauget, Illinois Sauget ( ) is a village in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. It is part of Greater St. Louis. The population was 141 at the 2020 census, down from 159 in 2010. Geography Sauget is located at (38.587013, -90.166690). According to the ...

, storage site of the National Building Arts Center.List of Recovered Buildings
St. Louis Union Station was the venue for the

FIRST Tech Challenge FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), formerly known as FIRST Vex Challenge, is a robotics competition for students in grades 7–12 to compete head to head, by designing, building, and programming a robot to compete in an alliance format against other te ...

World Championship component of the

FIRST Championship The FIRST Championship is a four-day robotics championship held annually in April at which FIRST student robotics teams compete. For several years, the event was held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, but moved to the Edward Jones Dom ...

, hosted in St. Louis every April until 2017, after which it was moved to

Detroit 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 t ...

. Today, the station is home to the St. Louis Aquarium. At 120,000 square feet, the aquarium is home to more than 13,000 animals representing over 250 species. The station's train shed area features The St. Louis Wheel, a 200-foot-high, 42 gondola

observation wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsules ...

. Inside the station is The St. Louis Rope Course, a 90,000 cubic foot, 3-story indoor ropes and zip line course. Union Station has two light show features: one in the train shed area, and another inside Union Station Hotel's lobby. In January 2020,

Build-A-Bear Workshop Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. is an American retailer headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri that sells teddy bears and other stuffed animals and characters. Customers go through an interactive process in which the stuffed animal of their choice ...

, Inc. moved their global headquarters to downtown St. Louis inside the 68,000-square-foot Grand Central Building inside the Union Station complex. The company also opened their new Build-A-Bear Workshop Union Station headquarters store and also operates a Build-A-Bear Radio studio and other experiential elements at their new headquarters. Additionally, a ferris wheel, aquarium, and an abundance of restaurants have been added to Union Station in 2020.

Transportation

MetroLink (subway/rail)

MetroLink, the St. Louis rail mass transit system, serves Union Station from its station directly below the trainshed in the Union Station subway tunnel. The St. Louis Union Station serves the Red Line and Blue Line. It takes about 30 minutes to travel to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport's East and Main Terminals via the Metro Red Line.

MegaBus service

Megabus Megabus may refer to: * Megabus (Europe), a low-cost coach service with services in Europe owned by ComfortDelGro. * Megabus (North America), a low-cost bus service in the United States and Canada owned by Variant Equity Advisors. * Megabús, a ...

previously provided express

intercity bus An intercity bus service ( North American English) or intercity coach service (British English and Commonwealth English), also called a long-distance, express, over-the-road, commercial, long-haul, or highway bus or coach service, is a public ...

service to

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mo ...

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the List of United States cities by populat ...

and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

from Union Station. Megabus moved to the

Gateway Multimodal Transportation Center The Gateway Multimodal Transportation Center, also known as Gateway Station, is a rail and bus terminal station in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. Opened in 2008 and operating 24 hours a day, it serves Amtrak trains and Greyhound and Burlington ...

in December, 2014.

Taxi and rideshare

St. Louis Union Station has 24-hour

taxi service A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...

at its north entrance on Market Street. Approximate travel time by taxi, non-rush hour: * Downtown St. Louis hotels: 5–8 minutes * St. Louis International Airport: 25–30 minutes * MidAmerica St. Louis Airport: 30 minutes * Gateway Arch/Laclede's Landing: 8 minutes * America's Center/Convention Center: 8–10 minutes * Midtown/Theatre District: 12 minutes * Central West End: 10–15 minutes * Clayton Business District: 15 minutes

Gateway Transportation Station

The city's major transportation hub station,

is located next to Union Station. It serves the city's rail system and regional bus system MetroBus,

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgenc ...

and city taxi services.

Filming

In 1981, the disused Grand Hall was used in John Carpenter's movie ''

Escape from New York ''Escape from New York'' is a 1981 American science fiction film, science fiction action film co-written, co-scored and directed by John Carpenter. It stars Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Isaac Hayes, Adrienne B ...

'', during the film's gladiatorial fight.

Photo gallery

File:Stl-union-station.jpg, Union Station about 1909. File:PostcardGrandHallOfUnionStationStLouis1909.jpg, Grand Hall, from a postcard mailed in 1909. File:Stlouis-grand.jpg, Grand Hall in 2007. File:Modern interior, St. Louis Union Station.jpg, The station now serves as a hotel and shopping complex. File:St Louis Metrolink train.jpg, A Red Line MetroLink train leaves Union Station.

References

External links

*
Army railroad cars at Union Station, St. Louis, Missouri, being staged and moved in preparation for the President’s trip to Philadelphia for the Army-Navy football game on 02 December 1961
*

Historic American Engineering Record Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

documentation, filed under Saint Louis, Independent City, MO: ** ** {{DEFAULTSORT:Union Station Transportation buildings and structures in St. Louis Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad Clock towers in Missouri Saint Louis Former railway stations in Missouri Historic American Engineering Record in Missouri Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks History of St. Louis Landmarks of St. Louis Saint Louis Museums in St. Louis National Historic Landmarks in Missouri Rail in St. Louis Railway hotels in the United States Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri Saint Louis Romanesque Revival architecture in Missouri Shopping districts and streets in the United States Saint Louis Saint Louis Saint Louis Saint Louis Saint Louis Saint Louis Saint Louis Saint Louis Stations along Southern Railway lines in the United States Saint Louis Former New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad stations Saint Louis Saint Louis Towers in Missouri Saint Louis Tourist attractions in St. Louis Railroad-related National Historic Landmarks Railroad museums in Missouri National Register of Historic Places in St. Louis Art Nouveau architecture in Missouri Art Nouveau railway stations Downtown West, St. Louis Saint Louis Saint Louis 1894 establishments in Missouri