Union Station is a former union railway station in

Gary, Indiana Gary ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 69,093 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it Indiana's List of municipalities in Indiana, eleventh-most populous city. The city has been historical ...

. It is located between the elevated lines of the

Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, established in 1833, and sometimes referred to as the Lake Shore, was a major part of the New York Central Railroad's Water Level Route from Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, New York, to Chicago, Illinoi ...

and

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 until 1987, when it was merged into the Chessie ...

and is just north of the

Indiana Toll Road The Indiana Toll Road, officially the Indiana East–West Toll Road, is a controlled-access toll road that runs for east–west across northern Indiana from the Illinois state line to the Ohio state line. It has been advertised as the "Main ...

Indiana Landmarks Indiana Landmarks is a private non-governmental heritage preservation organization focused on the U.S. state of Indiana. It is America's largest private statewide historic preservation organization. Founded in 1960 as Historic Landmarks Foundation ...

has placed the building on its 1''0 Most Endangered Places in Indiana'' list. The building is listed on 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 ...

History

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected New York metropolitan area, gr ...

's first station in Gary was a simple

boxcar A boxcar is the North American (Association of American Railroads, AAR) and South Australian Railways term for a Railroad car#Freight cars, railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry freight. The boxcar, while not the simpl ...

, which the railroad delivered to the town in 1906 at the behest of the

United States Steel Corporation The United States Steel Corporation is an American steel company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It maintains production facilities at several additional locations in the U.S. and Central Europe. The company produces and sells steel products, ...

. The permanent station was built in 1910, just four years after the city was founded. The building was listed on the

in 2019.

Location

The building faces west on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

. Because it sits between two raised rail lines, it is nearly invisible until one is next to it. The only sign still visible inside or outside the building is a painted notice on the front pillar that says “No Parking Cabs Only”. The method of construction has caused it to retain its structural integrity after 50 years of abandonment.Lost Indiana

Design

The

station building A station building, also known as a head house, is the main building of a passenger railway station. It is typically used principally to provide services to passengers. A station building is a component of a station, which can include tracks, ...

was built in a

Beaux-Arts style Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorporated Renaissance and B ...

utilizing the new cast-in-place

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

methods in which, after pouring, the concrete was scored to resemble stone.

Interior

The main room is a two stories hall. At the east end of the hall is a staircase to the loading platform on the upper level. Built into a hill, the building is only a single story in the back. A door on the south side leads from a cobblestone driveway. Across the drive is a staircase built up to track level along the south side. On the north there is a tunnel under the tracks to a stairway up to the loading platform.

Passenger trains

* Baltimore and Ohio: ** ''Capitol Limited'' (Chicago–Washington) ** ''Columbian'' (Chicago–Jersey City, after 1958, Baltimore) ** ''Shenandoah'' (Chicago–Jersey City, after 1958, Baltimore) ** ''

Washington–Chicago Express The ''Washington–Chicago Express'', an American named passenger train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), was one of four daily B&O trains operating between Washington, D.C., and Chicago, Illinois, via Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during th ...

'' (Chicago–Washington) * New York Central Railroad: ** ''Canadian-Niagara'' (Chicago-Toronto & Buffalo, eastbound), ''North Shore Limited'' (New York City & Toronto-Chicago, westbound) ** '' Chicago Mercury'' (Chicago-Detroit) ** ''Iroquois'' (New York-Chicago) ** ''

New England States The ''New England States'' was a passenger train operated by the New York Central Railroad and its successor Penn Central over the Water Level Route (predominantly alongside rivers and lake shores) between Chicago and Boston. It was launched in ...

'' (Boston-Chicago) ** ''

Wolverine The wolverine ( , ; ''Gulo gulo''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species, member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The w ...

'' (New York-Detroit-Chicago)

Legacy

Successor stations in the vicinity today are the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District's Gary Metro Center and its Gary Airport station, both on the

South Shore Line The South Shore Line is an electrically powered commuter rail line operated by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) between Millennium Station in downtown Chicago, Illinois and the South Bend Airport station in Sout ...

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 ...

Hammond–Whiting station Hammond–Whiting station is an Amtrak intercity train station in Hammond, Indiana. The station is along the former Pennsylvania Railroad Fort Wayne Line, now owned by Norfolk Southern Railway. North of the station lies the former Baltimore an ...

(served by the ''

'') is to the west in Hammond.

Popular culture

Gary's Union Station was used as an example for what could happen to a building in 30 years without humans providing maintenance and upkeep on '' Life After People: The Series'' (Season 1, Episode 2). Union Station was a filming location for the 1951 Alan Ladd movie ''

Appointment with Danger ''Appointment with Danger'' is a 1950 American crime film noir starring Alan Ladd and Phyllis Calvert, supported by Paul Stewart, Jan Sterling, and Jack Webb. Produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures, the drama was directed by Lewis All ...

''. This shows off a unique feature of the building not clearly visible in most photographs; the eight bar radial star design in each section of window, similar to the design of the British

Union Flag The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...

. The similarity is probably accidental. Union Station was also featured in the 1996 film ''

Original Gangstas ''Original Gangstas'' is a 1996 action-gangster film filmed and set in urban Gary, Indiana starring Blaxploitation film stars such as Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, Jim Brown, Richard Roundtree, and Ron O'Neal. It is the final film directed by Lar ...

'' where it served as the hideout for the gang known as The Rebels.

Planned reuse

On August 23, 2023, telecommunications firm Digital Equity LLC, the City of Gary, and Decay Devils broke ground on construction to adapt Gary's Union Station as a Fiber Smart House, job training center, and community space. Part of the passenger depot will become a network operations center to monitor fiber operations. Some of the building will be repurposed as a digital job training center teaching coding and other technology classes, while the grand entry will be open to the public. The adjacent freight depot is slated to house public safety emergency services. The project has a goal of opening by fall 2024.

References

External links

Longest, David E. (2007). Railroad Depots of Northern Indiana. Arcadia Publishing.
.
''Medium'' article discussing a planned, but never built, second union station in Gary
{{Gary stations

Former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad stations Former New York Central Railroad stations Former railway stations in Indiana Neoclassical architecture in Indiana Railway stations in the United States opened in 1910 Railway stations in the United States closed in 1971 1910 establishments in Indiana 1971 disestablishments in Indiana Railway stations in Lake County, Indiana National Register of Historic Places in Gary, Indiana Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Indiana Transportation in Gary, Indiana