Union Stations Across the U.S.
By Beryl Frank
Atlanta, Georgia
Pictures exist of a railroad terminal in Atlanta in 1864 before the fall of the Confederacy. One picture shows a long wooden shed over the train tracks, covered wagons pulled by mules, and a freight train by the side of the depot. This was called the Atlanta Railroad Depot (later called Union Station), and at the time of the picture Union troops had taken the city.
By the 1890's, Union Station of Atlanta was the transportation hub for the city, and it continued to be through the early part of the 20th century. No longer did a picture of the station from the Library of Congress show the damages of the Civil War. No more were there covered wagons and and soldiers camped on the grounds. Ladies wore long dresses and hats to match their gowns. Gentlemen wore top hats as they waited to meet the trains. So began the history of railroads in Atlanta.
But it was to be in April of 1930 that Atlanta had a new Union Station. Travelers arriving and departing on N.C. & St.L. Rwy, Georgia Railroad and L&N R.R. will enter the station through eight tall columns of cut limestone with a large American flag flying over the building. Built on great steel piers, the station rises above the tracks to the level of the Spring and Forsyth street viaducts so it was entirely separated from land.
The station proper was constructed by McDonald & Company of Atlanta while the baggage and mail building had Otto Joslin as its engineer and supervisor.
The new Union Station cost $600,000 and was said to be one of the most completely equipped in the South. A tiled concourse led from the interior of the station to track gates. Separating the white and colored waiting rooms was the ticket office which served each.
The headline in the Atlanta Constitution of Tuesday, August 10, 1971, read: "They're Tearing Down Union Station." A picture showed the beginning of the demolition of the station that once served more than 20 passenger trains per day. It was described as one of the finest structures in the South.
Atlanta's Union Station is no more. Gone are the commodious waiting rooms. Gone are the luncheonettes, barber shop, telegraph and telephone connections. Most people in 2006 do not even remember where the Union Station stood. What happened to the eight limestone columns on the front?
Progress tore down Atlanta's Union Station. The limestone station built in 1930 on the foundation of earlier train stations is now only a memory to train buffs and history hunters.
The last Union Station of Atlanta was completed in April 1930 and demolished in August 1971. What once was considered the most completely equipped train station in the South fell prey to the wrecking crews of a demolition company, and is no more!
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