Union Station
About this property
Union Station is a railway station located at Washington Square in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts. It is the western terminus of the MBTA Commuter Rail Framingham/Worcester Line and a stop for the Amtrak Lake Shore Limited service. A bus terminal adjacent to the station is the hub for Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA) local bus service; it is also used by MART, Peter Pan, and Greyhound intercity buses. PVTA also provides bus service from the station parking garage. The Boston and Worcester Railroad (B&W) opened between Boston and Worcester on July 4, 1835. The Western Railroad opened between Worcester and Springfield in October 1839, and to Albany, New York, in 1841. The Norwich and Worcester Railroad (N&W) opened between Norwich, Connecticut, and Worcester in March 1840. The Providence and Worcester Railroad (P&W) opened between Providence, Rhode Island, and Worcester in October 1847. The Worcester and Nashua Railroad (W&N) opened between Worcester and Groton Junction in July 1848, and to Nashua, New Hampshire, that December. The Fitchburg and Worcester Railroad (F&W) opened between Sterling Junction and Fitchburg in February 1850, using the W&N to access Worcester. The Boston, Barre and Gardner Railroad opened between Worcester and Gardner in September 1871, and to Winchendon in January 1874. All except the Western and the P&W used Foster Street station, located just north of Worcester Common. A union station was constructed east of Washington Square in 1875. Designed by Ware & Van Brunt, it was modeled after a Roman basilica and featured a 212-foot (65 m)-tall clocktower. Most railroads in southern New England were consolidated into three systems in the later 19th century. Long rivals, the B&W and Western merged in 1867 to form the Boston and Albany Railroad, which became part of the New York Central Railroad system in 1900. The Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M) acquired W&N successor Worcester, Nashua and Rochester Railroad in 1886, and the Fitchburg Railroad system including the Boston, Barre and Gardner in 1900. The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad acquired the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad system including the P&W in 1892, the Old Colony Railroad system including the F&W in 1893, and the New York and New England Railroad system including the N&W in 1898. Construction of a new Union Station on the southwest side of Washington Square began in 1909 as part of a grade separation project. The new station opened on June 4, 1911. It was designed by Watson & Huckel in a French Renaissance Revival style. Two 175-foot (53 m)-tall towers of white marble flanked the main entrance. The main waiting room featured an elliptical arched roof with stained glass. The towers were removed in 1926 due to structural issues.
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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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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 5, 1980.
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.
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.
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