Montgomery Union Station

{{Infobox station

| style = Amtrak

| style2 = Amtrak old

| name = Montgomery, AL

| type = inter-city rail station

| image = File:Union Station Montgomery.JPG

| image_caption = Montgomery Union Station, {{circa|1900}}

| address = Montgomery, Alabama

| country = USA

| line =

| platform =

| parking =

| tracks =

| passengers =

| date =

| pass_year =

| pass_percent =

| pass_system =

| opened = 1898

| closed = 1979

| rebuilt =

| accessible =

| connections =

| code =

| baggage_check =

| owned =

| coordinates =

| services =

| other_services_header = Former services (at #1989-1995 station)

| other_services = {{Adjacent stations|system=Amtrak

|line=Gulf Breeze|left=Greenville|right=Birmingham}}

| other_services2_header = Former services (at Union Station)

| other_services2 = {{Adjacent stations|system1=Amtrak

|line1=Floridian (1971–1979)|left1=Dothan|right1=Birmingham

|system2=Atlantic Coast Line Railroad

|line2=Montgomery-Waycross|right2=Sprague

|system3=Central of Georgia Railway

|line3=Montgomery-Smithville|right3=Keyton

|system4=Louisville and Nashville Railroad

|line4=Main Line|left4=McGehees|right4=Jackson's Lake

|system5=Seaboard Air Line Railroad

|line5=Montgomery-Savannah|right5=Merry

|system6=West Point Route

|line6=Main|right6=Madison

}}

| nrhp = {{Infobox NRHP

| embed = yes

| name = Montgomery Union Station and Trainshed

| nrhp_type = nhl

| image =

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| location =

| coordinates = {{coord|32|22|50|N|86|18|51|W|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin =

| area =

| built = 1897

| architect = Benjamin Bosworth Smith

| architecture = Romanesque

| designated_nrhp_type = December 8, 1976{{cite web |url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1320&ResourceType=Structure |title=Montgomery Union Station and Trainshed |accessdate=2007-10-24 |work=National Historic Landmark summary listing |publisher=National Park Service |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080111045137/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1320&ResourceType=Structure |archivedate=2008-01-11 }}

| added = July 24, 1973{{NRISref|2007a}}

| refnum = 73000368

}}

Montgomery Union Station and Trainshed is a historic former train station in Montgomery, Alabama. Built in 1898 by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, 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 in 1973 and became a National Historic Landmark in 1976.

History

File:Photocopy of a Postcard, Alabama Archives- circa 1915. VIEW LOOKING NORTHWEST - Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Union Station Train Shed, Water Street, opposite Lee Street, Montgomery, Montgomery HAER ALA,51-MONG,23A-16.tif

File:VIEW LOOKING WEST, SHOWING LOCOMOTIVE AND TRAINSHED - Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Union Station Train Shed, Water Street, opposite Lee Street, Montgomery, Montgomery County, AL HAER ALA,51-MONG,23A-14.tif train under the Union Station Train Shed, 1974.]]

Erected of brick and limestone on a high bluff along the Alabama River, the station was built by Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N) in 1898. The station also served passenger trains of Atlantic Coast Line, Western Railway of Alabama, Seaboard Air Line, Central of Georgia, and Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad. The station had six tracks under a {{Convert|600|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}} shed, with a coach yard on the south end of the station as well as a Railway Express Agency facility. The station's design segregated passengers by race and incorporated Romanesque Revival elements.

L&N trains using the station included the Azalean, Florida Arrow, Humming Bird, Pan-American and South Wind. Traditionally, the Southern Railway's Crescent and Piedmont Limited 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 came into existence in 1971, it continued passenger service through Montgomery with a single train (the South Wind, later renamed the Floridian), operating between Chicago and Miami. 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 National Historic Landmark 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).{{citation |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Louisville & Nashville Railroad: Montgomery Union Station and Trainshed/Montgomery Union Station |url={{NHLS url|id=73000368}} |format=pdf |date=August 2, 1976 |last=Zembala |first=Dennis M. Zembala |publisher=National Park Service}} and {{cite web |title=Accompanying 5 photos, exterior and interior, from 1925, 1970, 1972, and 1974. |url={{NHLS url|id=73000368|photos=y}}}} {{small|(1.87 MB)}}

{{anchor|1989-1995 station}}Amtrak returned to Montgomery in 1989 with an extension of the Crescent called the Gulf Breeze from Birmingham to Mobile, but Union Station was not used. Instead, Amtrak contracted with a travel agent who occupied a former grain silo 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 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140207213221/http://visitingmontgomery.com/ |date=2014-02-07 }}
{{HAER |survey=AL-1 |id=al0667 |title=Louisville & Nashville Railroad, Union Station Train Shed, Water Street, opposite Lee Street, Montgomery, Montgomery County, AL |photos=18 |data=3 |cap=2}}
{{HAER |survey=AL-2 |id=al0666 |title=Union Station, Water Street, Montgomery, Montgomery County, AL |photos=10 |data=1 |cap=1 |link=no}}

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Montgomery, Alabama

Category:Buildings and structures in Montgomery, Alabama

Category:Former Amtrak stations in Alabama

Category:Historic American Engineering Record in Alabama

Category:National Historic Landmarks in Alabama

Category:Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama

Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1898

Category:Union stations in the United States

Category:Transportation in Montgomery, Alabama

Category:Romanesque Revival architecture in Alabama

Category:Former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad stations

Category:Former Seaboard Air Line Railroad stations