Savannah Union Station

Last updated
Savannah Union Station
Savannah Union Station.jpg
Savannah Union Station, rendering by architect Frank P. Milburn
General information
Line(s) Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
Construction
Architect Frank Pierce Milburn
Architectural style Spanish Renaissance and Elizabethian styles
History
Opened1902;121 years ago (1902)
Closed1962;61 years ago (1962)
Former services
Preceding station Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Following station
Georgetown
toward Tampa
Main Line Hardeeville
toward Richmond
Preceding station Seaboard Air Line Railroad Following station
Interstate
toward Tampa or Miami
Main Line Clyo
toward Richmond
Terminus East Carolina Line Pritchard
toward Hamlet
Meldrim
toward Montgomery
Montgomery – Savannah Terminus
Preceding station Southern Railway Following station
Hardeeville
toward Charlotte
CharlotteSavannah Terminus

Savannah Union Station was a train station in Savannah, Georgia. It was located at 419 through 435 West Broad Street, between Stewart and Roberts streets, on the site that is now listed as 435 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. It hosted the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, the Seaboard Air Line Railroad and the Southern Railway. While the term, union station, in the United States generally implies a station that hosts all train companies stopping in a city, the Central of Georgia and the Savannah and Atlanta Railway used other stations in Savannah. [1]

Contents

Architecture

Exterior view of Union Station, 1904 Union Station, Savannah, GA (NBY 429332).jpg
Exterior view of Union Station, 1904

It was designed by Columbia, South Carolina architect Frank Pierce Milburn and completed in 1902 at a cost of $150,000. It was an example of Spanish Renaissance and Elizabethian styles. The main feature of the structure was an octagonal rotunda which measured 80 feet in diameter and served as the general waiting room. Since most of the station's history took place under the South's Jim Crow segregation system, a colored waiting room was assigned to African-Americans. [2]

The exterior walls were made of pressed brick with granite and terra cotta trimmings. The building also had two towers.

Significance and history

Many visitors disembarked trains onto West Broad Street. [3] They brought enough business for theaters, bars, stores to open in that section of town. For decades, the Union Station and its surroundings became known as the economic and cultural center for Black Savannah. [4]

In August 1962 the remaining passenger trains were shifted to the new Atlantic Coast Line station on the periphery of Savannah, which remains in use today by Amtrak. A year later, Union Station was demolished to make room for Interstate 16 and what would eventually be known as the Earl T. Shinhoster Interchange. [5]

Named trains

Several named trains made stops at the station:

OperatorsNamed trainsNorthern destinationSouthern destination
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (train continued later under Amtrak) Champion New York, New York St. Petersburg, Florida and Miami, Florida
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Everglades Washington, D.C. Jacksonville, Florida
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Havana Special New York, New York Tampa, Florida and Miami, Florida
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (train continued later under Amtrak) Palmetto (ACL train) New York, New York terminus
Seaboard Air Line Railroad Palmland New York, New York Tampa, Florida and Miami, Florida
Seaboard Air Line Railroad (train continued later under Amtrak) Silver Meteor New York, New York Miami, Florida
Seaboard Air Line Railroad Sunland Washington, D.C. and Portsmouth, Virginia Tampa, Florida
Seaboard Air Line Railroad Tidewater Portsmouth, Virginia Jacksonville, Florida
Southern Railway Skyland Special Asheville, North Carolina Jacksonville, Florida

Current use of the site

An Enmark service station (405 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd) is located nearby what was once the site of the Union Station.

The Savannah Visitor Information Center is in the former Central of Georgia Depot and Trainshed, located nearby, at 301 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dearborn Station</span> Former train station in Chicago, United States

Dearborn Station was, beginning in the late 1800s, one of six intercity train stations serving downtown Chicago, Illinois. It remained in operation until May 1, 1971. Built in 1883, it is located at Dearborn and Polk Streets, adjacent to Printers Row. The station was owned by the Chicago & Western Indiana Railroad, which itself was owned by the companies operating over its line. The station is now a shopping mall housing office, retail, and entertainment spaces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgia Railroad and Banking Company</span> Historic American railroad and banking company

The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company also seen as "GARR", was a historic railroad and banking company that operated in the U.S. state of Georgia. In 1967 it reported 833 million revenue-ton-miles of freight and 3 million passenger-miles; at the end of the year it operated 331 miles (533 km) of road and 510 miles (820 km) of track.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richmond Main Street Station</span> Railway station in Richmond VA

Richmond Main Street Station, officially the Main Street Station and Trainshed, is a historic railroad station and office building in Richmond, Virginia. It was built in 1901, and is served by Amtrak. It is also an intermodal station with Richmond's city transit bus services, which are performed by Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC). It is colloquially known by residents as The Clock Tower. It is a U.S. National Historic Landmark. Main Street Station serves as a secondary train station for Richmond providing limited Amtrak service directly to downtown Richmond. Several Amtrak trains serving the Richmond metropolitan area only stop at the area's primary rail station, Staples Mill Road which is located five miles to the north in Henrico County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harrisburg Transportation Center</span> Intermodal station in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

The Harrisburg Transportation Center is a railway station and transportation hub in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It is located on the eastern edge of Downtown Harrisburg between the intersections of Aberdeen and Market Streets and 4th and Chestnut Streets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza (Toledo)</span>

Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza is the main passenger rail and intercity bus station of Toledo, Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Savannah station (Amtrak)</span> Amtrak station in Georgia USA

Savannah station is an Amtrak train station in Savannah, Georgia. The station was built in 1962 to replace the older Savannah Union Station, torn down for construction of I-16. Located at 2611 Seaboard Coastline Drive, the station consists of a terminal building on the east side of the north–south tracks, with a platform between the tracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montgomery Union Station</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlanta Union Station (1930)</span> Smaller of two principal train stations in downtown Atlanta

The Union Station built in 1930 in Atlanta was the smaller of two principal train stations in downtown, Terminal Station being the other. It was the third "union station" or "union depot", succeeding the 1853 station, burned in mid-November 1864 when Federal forces left Atlanta for the March to the Sea, and the 1871 station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgia State Railroad Museum</span> United States historic place

The Georgia State Railroad Museum is a museum in Savannah, Georgia located at a historic Central of Georgia Railway site. It includes parts of the Central of Georgia Railway: Savannah Shops and Terminal Facilities National Historic Landmark District. The complex is considered the most complete antebellum railroad complex in the United States. The museum, located at 655 Louisville Road, is part of a historic district included in the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central of Georgia Depot and Trainshed (Savannah, Georgia)</span>

Central of Georgia Depot and Trainshed is a former passenger depot and trainshed constructed in 1860 by the Central of Georgia Railway (CofG) before the outbreak of the American Civil War. This pair of buildings was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976, a listing that was expanded in 1978 to the old Central of Georgia Railway Savannah Shops and Terminal Facilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western and Atlantic Depot (Dalton, Georgia)</span> United States historic place

The Western and Atlantic Depot is a historic Western and Atlantic Railroad train depot in Dalton, Georgia. It was built in 1852 in the Greek Revival style. The building is the oldest surviving commercial structure in Dalton and is a "fine example" of depot architecture in Georgia in the mid-1800s. It served as both a freight and passenger station.

Chattanooga Union Station, more commonly known as the Union Depot in Chattanooga, constructed between 1857-1859, served as a train car shed in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Located at Broad and Ninth Streets, the station was one of two major railroad terminals in the city, the other being the Southern Railway's Terminal Station.

The Marietta depot is a former freight and passenger stop in Marietta, Georgia. It was originally built in 1864 for the Western and Atlantic Railroad, a railroad between Chattanooga, Tennessee and Atlanta, Georgia. That railroad was absorbed by the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway. In turn, the latter railroad was merged into the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in 1957.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Rapids Union Station</span> Railway station

Grands Rapids Union Station was a union station in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A Georgian Revival building of two stories, it was built in 1900 and was closed in 1958 and demolished over 1958 and 1959 to make space for a highway. Its address was 61 Ionia Avenue. It was a hub serving a few railroads going to different points in Michigan and other points in the Midwest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiah Hall</span> Historic building in Savannah, Georgia

Kiah Hall is a building in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Regarded as "one of the finest examples of Greek Revival architecture in Georgia", it is one of the original 1856 buildings of the country's only intact Antebellum Period railroad facility. Formerly named the Gray Building, of Savannah's Central of Georgia Railroad depot, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976. It is now home of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) Museum of Art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Station (Columbus, Georgia)</span> Train stop

Columbus Union Station was a union station in Columbus, Georgia. The building was built in 1901 and was designed in the Second Empire style by the architectural firm, Bruce and Morgan. The station hosted the Central Railroad of Georgia, the Seaboard Air Line Railroad and the Southern Railway. It was located at 1200 Sixth Avenue, directly north of 12th Street, Columbus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (Savannah)</span> Prominent street in Savannah, Georgia

Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is a prominent street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located to the west of Montgomery Street, at the western edge of Savannah's downtown, it runs for about 2.48 miles (3.99 km) from West River Street in the north to Exchange Street in the south. Originally called West Broad Street, it was renamed for Martin Luther King Jr. in 1991. A memorial bust of King Jr., designed by Italian sculptor Franco Castelluccio and approved by his family, was officially unveiled at Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Savannah's Plant Riverside District on January 15, 2022. The memorial is located at the northern terminus of the boulevard, overlooking the Savannah River.

References

  1. Official Guide of the Railways, August 1936, Index of Stations
  2. The Savannah Press, December 13, 1900
  3. Revitalizing MLK Boulevard: Enough business to go around?, Christian Livermore, Savannah Morning News, May 20, 2007
  4. "The Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum, The New Georgia Encyclopedia, History & Archeology". Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
  5. Acosta, Ruben A. 'Savannah‟s Union Station: Architecture and the Gateway in the South' Master's Thesis, Savannah College of Art and Design, 2010

32°04′26″N81°05′56″W / 32.074°N 81.099°W / 32.074; -81.099