St. Louis Union Station

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Union Station in 2007 with meeting of the waters statue

St. Louis Union Station about 1909

Grand Room of Union Station

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 refurbished into a shopping center and entertainment complex.

The station opened on September 1, 1894 and was owned by the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis. It was designed by Theodore Link. His design included three main areas: the Headhouse, the Midway and the 11.5 acre Train Shed. It featured a Grand Hall with gold leaf, Romanesque arches, 65-foot barrel-vaulted ceiling and stained glass windows.

Outside the station is a Carl Milles sculpture/fountain "Meeting of the Waters."

In the 1940's it had 100,000 passengers a day. The famous photograph of Harry S. Truman holding aloft an erroneous Chicago Tribune headline of "Dewey Defeats Truman" was shot at the station as Truman headed back to Washington, DC from Independence, Missouri at the conclusion of the 1948 Presidential election.

The last train left St. Louis Union Station in 1978. In August 1985, after a $150 million renovation, the station celebrated with a 539 room Hyatt Regency Hotel. The former train shed now houses a lake, and the train shed & passenger lobby now feature a variety of shopping, entertainment and dining establishments.

Amtrak now departs from a small building a block east of the station.

The station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

[edit] See also

List of railway stations

[edit] External links

	U.S. National Register of Historic Places - (List of entries)
	National Park Service ^. National Historic Landmarks ^. National Battlefields ^. National Historic Sites ^. National Historic Parks ^. National Memorials ^. National Monuments