About this property
Washington Union Station, known locally as Union Station, is a major train station, transportation hub, and leisure destination in Washington, D.C. Designed by Daniel Burnham and opened in 1907, it is Amtrak's second-busiest station and North America's 13th-busiest railroad station. The station is the southern terminus of the Northeast Corridor, an electrified rail line extending north through major cities including Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston, and the busiest passenger rail line in the nation. In 2015, it served just under five million passengers. An intermodal facility, Union Station also serves MARC and VRE commuter rail services, the Washington Metro, intercity bus lines, and local Metrobus buses. It carries the IATA airport code of ZWU. At the height of its traffic, during World War II, as many as 200,000 passengers passed through the station in a single day. In 1988, a headhouse wing was added and the original station renovated for use as a shopping mall. As of 2014, Union Station was one of the busiest rail facilities and shopping destinations in the United States, visited by over 40 million people a year. The COVID-19 pandemic and other factors caused a sharp decline in retail and dining; by late 2022, more than half its commercial space was vacant. Amtrak took control of the station in 2024 and is working on a major renovation and expansion. On August 27, 2025, the Trump administration announced it would negotiate to resume direct federal management of non-railroad areas.
Location
Categories
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.
Everything a full report reveals about Union Station
This page lists Union Station. A full Aubrey report for an address near it pulls together this listing alongside battlefield records, land patents, and every other historical record within a chosen radius:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
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 March 23, 1969.
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 industrial era, specifically around 1907.
Can I research the history near Union Station?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Union Station will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
More in District of Columbia County
Historic places, battles, and census history across District of Columbia County.
Explore District of ColumbiaCounty ›More historic places in District of Columbia
Browse all historic places in District of Columbia.
View District of Columbiahistoric sites ›District of Columbia history
Colonial settlement, territorial period, and statehood narrative.
District of Columbiahistory ›Research the history near this site
An Aubrey US report for an address near Union Station will include this listing alongside battlefield records and other historical sources within your chosen radius.