Union Stations Across the U.S.
By Beryl Frank
Alexandria, Virginia
The history of Alexandria, Virginia, began long before the railroads arrived there. The city was part of world shipping commerce by the mid-18th century. During the War of 1812, the city surrendered to the British. As time wore on, the large ships left Alexandria for the deeper port of Baltimore.
And then the railroads came..
The Baltimore and Ohio was constructed as far as Cumberland, Maryland. In the late 1840's, Alexandria became involved in more railroad construction. A railroad joined the eastern city with the west through Harpers Ferry (then in Virginia). Another railroad project linked Alexandria with the south to Manassas, Virginia, by 1851.
In 1864 the Alexandria and Washington Railroad Company had a rail line to Washington, D.C. The reorganized railroad became the Washington, Alexandria and Georgetown Railroad.
The year 1905 saw the Alexandria Union Station become a passenger station made in the Federal Revival style. The red brick depot was separated from the baggage building by an open breezeway, and dormers brought light through the slate roof.
Among the inside features of the station were a checkerboard ceramic tile floor and delicate fanlike transoms. Both of these were restored to their original appearance when the station was restored in 1996.
The original rooms were identified in 1904 as follows: general waiting room, women's waiting room white women's waiting room, men's toilet, colored women's toilet, white women's toilet, ticket office. Today, the original rooms have been altered to conform to the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Alexandria's Union Station, built in 1905, was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. Today (2006) this Union Station serves the community as it has done for over 100 years.
Thanks to Mr. T. Michael Miller, Office of Historic Alexandria, for his help with this article.
Bibliography
Union Station, Alexandria, Virginia, at the end of the 20th century. East elevation c-1994. Photo courtesy Al Cox, AIA.
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