Union Station (Houston)
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Union Station
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The building's exterior in 2010
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| Location | 501 Crawford St., Houston, Texas |
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| Coordinates | 29°45′25″N 95°21′23″W / 29.75694°N 95.35639°WCoordinates: 29°45′25″N 95°21′23″W / 29.75694°N 95.35639°W |
| Area | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Built | 1911 |
| Architect | Warren & Wetmore |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 77001448 |
| TSAL # | 337 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | November 10, 1977 |
| Designated TSAL | 5/28/1981 |
Union Station is a building in Houston, Texas, in the United States. Dedicated on March 2, 1911, and formerly a hub of rail transportation, the building now serves as a cornerstone for Minute Maid Park. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and has since been superseded by Houston's Amtrak station.
In 1909 the Houston Belt and Terminal Railway Company commissioned the design of a new union station for Houston from New York City-based architects Warren and Wetmore. The location called for the demolition of several structures of Houston prominence. Horace Baldwin Rice's residence and Adath Yeshurun Congregation's synagogue among other structures were removed.
With an original estimated cost of $1 million USD, Union Station was constructed by the American Construction Company for an eventual total of five times that amount. Exterior walls were constructed of granite, limestone, and terracotta, while the interior used an extensive amount of marble. It was completed and opened on March 1, 1911. At the time, Houston, with seventeen railways, was considered the main railroad hub of the Southern United States. This is also evident by the Seal of Houston, which prominently features a locomotive. Two more floors were added the following year.
The station served as the main inter-city passenger terminal for Houston for over seven decades thereafter. Passenger rail declined greatly after World War II, and the last regularly-scheduled train, the Lone Star, moved its service to Houston's current Amtrak station on July 31, 1974. With this move, the building effectively ceased to be a public facility and was taken over by the Houston Belt & Terminal and its parent railroads as office space and a dispatching center. One section of the building in the south end of the second floor was leased to the Houston Society of Model Engineers, which operated a large HO scale model railroad layout they named the "Texas, Crawford & Prairie RR", after the three streets which form the boundary of the original property of the station. On November 10, 1977, the building was named to the National Register of Historic Places.
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