Union Station
501 Crawford St., Houston, TXAs discussed in the preceding section, this building was designed by the same firm that designed New York's Grand Central Station. It is one of the few buildings of the era left downtown, and the only train station. The atmosphere and spirit surrounding the past of this building are again best described in Bryant's article.
"In a burst of enthusiasm prior to the ceremonies, the Houston Chronicle proclaimed that "The Houston Union Station is significant of the city's confidence in its own future," a sentiment similar to many expressed at the opening of the depot. The station "is the gateway through which the millions who enter and leave the city in years to come will pass directly to or from the centers of trade." Between 7,000 and 10,000 visitors filled the building on March 1 and echoed the praises of the Chronicle's reporter. A representative of the Pennsylvania Railroad stated that no city in the nation the size of Houston had anything to compare with the new terminal. City Commissioner J.C. Gaston accepted the station on behalf of Houston, and praised the building as "one of the finest railroad depots in the South." The Herb and Lewis orchestra played as guests swarmed through the flower-decked building to be greeted by the Harvey House waitresses in their black dresses and heavily starched white aprons. There appeared to be uniform agreement that this "fine up-to-date station makes a splendid impression upon the stranger who arrives in the city for his first visit."
Both of Houston's major newspapers took cognizance of the opening of the station as an example of the boom in construction. On March 2, the city also dedicated the new County Court House, and a new Post Office would be opened in April. The Municipal Auditorium was nearing completion; the sixteen-story Carter Building was to be dedicated soon; a twelve-story bank was under construction; and over $2,000,000 in navigation and road projects were underway. To many people, the Union Station symbolized the destiny of Houston.
The railways which joined together to erect the Houston station sought to construct the most perfect railroad passenger terminal in the Southwest and ranking with any in the entire South in size, convenience, and architectural beauty." Only a monumental edifice would suffice for the largest railroad center in Texas and the Southwest.
Houston grew rapidly from 1880 to 1910, and the city's rail network helped to establish its economic base. By 1910 the area was served by sixteen rail companies, and railroading constituted the city's largest industry. Houston's population almost doubled between 1900 (44,633) and 1910 (78,800) and soared to 138,276 by 1920. A number of developers and boomers came to the city to participate in its spectacular growth, and none with more ambition than railroad magnate B.F. Yoakum. Tirelessly building a rail empire in the southwest, Yoakum organized the Houston Belt and Terminal Railway on August 31, 1905, to create freight and passenger terminals for his lines. Chaos in freight transfers and the inconvenience resulting from many small passenger depots led other railways to join Yoakum in his project. The Texas affiliate of the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe, purchased a one-fourth interest in the Belt and Terminal and then became the prime mover in the project when Yoakum himself was in financial difficulties. The Belt and Terminal completed a seventy-eight-mile-long switching network around Houston and proposed to allocate forty city blocks for a new union station and office building. Progress was slowed by delays in land acquisition, but with the aid of condemnation proceedings, the site was acquired and cleared of existing buildings. Bonds in the amount of $5,000,000 were sold to pay for the new terminal. The site selected for the station pleased Houston civic leaders, for the location at Texas Avenue and Crawford Street was quite near the heart of the business district. By the time the Belt and Terminal managers were ready to select an architect for the proposed building, the tenants and participants in the venture included the G.C.& S.F., Brownsville and Trinity, Trinity and Brazos Valley, International and Great Northern (Missouri Pacific), and San Antonio and Aransas Pass. Only the Southern Pacific and the M-K-T refused to participate, preventing the depot from becoming the true "union" Station.
Declining passenger use, with the exception of a brief revival during World War II, left only one passenger train operating by 1969. The once hectic activity could not be revived by the "modernization" of the terminal in which the forty-five-foot ceilings were lost to 10-foot ceiling and air conditioning duct work. The final train was diverted to the Amtrak station in 1970, and the station area of the old building was converted to office space, still occupied by various railroads.
Tentative plans for adaptive reuse of the Union Station are pending. The city of Houston is currently planning to acquire the building for use as a transportation center.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.