St. Louis Union Station

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St. Louis Union Station about 1909

Harry S. Truman was widely expected to lose the 1948 election, as shown, falsely, by this mistaken Chicago Tribune headline. This photograph depicts Truman standing on the back of a train car at St. Louis Union Station.

St. Louis Union Station is a former passenger train terminal in St. Louis, Missouri that has been restored into a shopping center and entertainment complex.

Union Station first opened in 1894. During its heyday, it served as the midwestern terminus of the transcontinental railroads. The station went into decline in the middle of the twentienth century as air travel started to make rail travel all but obsolete. In 1978, St. Louis Union Station closed and remained vacant for seven years, after which the decision was made to restore rather than demolish it.

The station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In its new life as a tourist attraction, it houses a 539 room Hyatt Regency Hotel. The former train vault now houses an indoor lake, and the passenger lobby is now a shopping mall. The station's original purpose is all but lost; it now has a St. Louis Metrolink station, serviced by the line that also services Busch Stadium and the Gateway Arch.