Beryl Frank, of Pikesville, Maryland, has written extensively on historical topics. Her latest interest in union stations is shared here with the first in a series of old post cards she has collected.
WASHINGTON, DC, and MONTPELIER, OHIO
Why are both of these railroad depots called Union Station? One is in our nation's capital and the other is in Montpelier, Ohio. Both were pictured on post cards when the postage needed to send them was only a penny.
Union Station in Washington, D.C., was completed by the U.S. Government, the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in 1907. That provides the first question here. More than one railroad financed and used "The New Union Station at Washington."
The cost of the land, building and terminal improvements was 18 million dollars. The building of white granite is 760 feet in length and 343 feet in width. When built, it was considered the finest railroad station in the world.
When the traveler moved west, the station at Montpelier, Ohio, was also called "Union Station." One of the pictured gentlemen standing beside the engine was holding a rifle. The gentleman in white had a gun belt around his waist.
This two-story building was far less elegant than Union Station in Washington, but there were waiting passengers ready to get on the train. Which railroad came and went through Montpelier, Ohio?
Research showed that the Wabash Railroad Company was the only railroad using the Montpelier station. This union station was so named because it was a meeting point of multiple main lines of the Wabash Railroad. At one time, there was also a hotel in town called the Union Hotel. But both the hotel and the station have since been torn down.
These two buildings show the elegance of one and the simplicity of the other. And both were called Union Station in the early years of the 1900's.