Union Station
National Register of Historic Places

Union Station

Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona
Listed
November 25, 1985
Type
Building
Period
Civil War
Ref No.
85003056

About this property

Phoenix Union Station is a former train station at 401 South 4th Avenue in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, United States. From 1971 to 1996 it was an Amtrak station. Until 1971, it was a railroad stop for the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific Railroads. Union Station was served by Amtrak's Los Angeles–New Orleans Sunset Limited and Los Angeles–Chicago Texas Eagle. The station is on the National Register of Historic Places. Phoenix Union Station was constructed in 1923 by the Santa Fe and the Arizona Eastern (Southern Pacific) Railroads. The Station is one of the best examples of Mission Revival architecture, along with Brophy College Preparatory, in Phoenix. The Mission Revival style, a popular building style between 1890 and the 1920s, was typified by such Union Station features as stucco wall finishes, arcades, red tiled roofs, curvilinear gables, massive piers, and impost moldings. Union Station of the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe Railroads A large Mission Revival railroad station with a central two-story waiting room structure between long, low arcaded wings. Red-tiled, gabled roofs are terminated by high parapet walls that are shaped with the familiar curves of the Mission Revival at the ends of the wings and in entrance pavilions at both the railroad and street sides of the central pavilion. In keeping with the character of the Mission Revival there are few other decorative details. The waiting room is a high, beamed space with original wooden furnishings and particularly fine ceiling light fixtures. There have been some alterations in the waiting room, and the arcaded wings which were originally open as passenger waiting areas have been enclosed. A microwave transmitting tower next to the central pavilion is out of harmony with the structure ... Union Station was a joint venture between the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe Railroad Companies and was designed by their architect, Peter Kiewit. Dedicated on September 30, 1923, the building was proclaimed a "Monument to the progressiveness and prosperity of the valley and a testimony of the confidence in the future of the Salt River Valley and Phoenix." A milestone in Phoenix's development, Union Station ushered in tourism on a grand scale and promoted greater national visibility. Phoenix Union Station was commissioned on September 16, 1922, by the Arizona Eastern Railroad Company, a Southern Pacific affiliate, and by the California, Arizona and Santa Fe Railroad, then part of the Santa Fe Railway system and was built by the Robert E. McKee Construction Company. Construction of this union station was the result of an order by the Arizona Corporation Commission to the railroads to consolidate their separate station facilities located several blocks apart in downtown Phoenix.

Location

Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona
33.44415, -112.07893

Categories

TRANSPORTATIONARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Native Heritage
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Questions about this property

When was Union Station listed on the National Register?

Union Station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 25, 1985.

What type of historic resource is Union Station?

Union Station is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Union Station?

The period of significance for Union Station is recorded as the civil_war era, specifically around 1971.

Can I research the history near Union Station?

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