Photographs and Research Documenting our Industrial Heritage. Includes Field Notes with Archival Quality Photographs and Cartographic Studies.
Chicago Union Station: Celebrating 100 Years as Part of the Midwest’s Transportation History.
Chicago Union Station: A Railroad Hub for Passengers and Cargo Since 1925.
Railroad transportation has a long history in the Chicago area and the Midwest, with the first passenger rail service, the Galena and Chicago Union being chartered in 1836 and beginning service in 1848. The line connected the growing city of Chicago with Galena, Illinois and the area’s lead mines, through an indirect connection with the Illinois Central Railroad.
Rising in the West Loop of Chicago is a monumental structure with a sturdy exterior of ashlar-quality construction in Bedford limestone. This is Chicago’s iconic union station, so named because of its history of being shared by several railroad companies. Presently the station is shared by METRA, the main commuter service in Chicago, and AMTRAK, serving the country with four long-haul lines and shorter service routes.
Architecture and Features of Chicago Union Station: Sturdy Tuscan Characteristics Meet the Elegant Corinthian Order
The central axis here is the long, straight path extending from the foreground to the background, aligned with a series of evenly spaced columns on the left side, along the geometrically patterned and balanced ceiling, and the series of doors, windows, and light fixtures on the right. This is the east porch of the station. The colonnade is fashioned in the Tuscan Order of architecture. The effect creates a sense of symmetry, drawing the view to the vanishing point in the distance.The Great Hall with its magnificent skylight is viewed looking south to north from below street level. The travertine-sheathed walls glow a warm golden hue and light glints from the pair of statues titled “Night and Day”, which are above part of the west-east axis connecting the Great Hall to a corridor leading to the ticketing areas and train concourses. The balcony at the far end of the room is along the West Adams Street side of the station.The Great Hall in Chicago Union Station features this magnificent and perfectly proportioned Corinthian Order colonnade, including the colossal pilasters. Classical features distinguish the space, from the vents in the walls to the dentils and brackets above the columns, to the rosettes in the ceiling and the bronze sconces along the walls. The hall encompasses 24,000 square feet.
This is the third station on the site between West Adams Street and West Jackson Boulevard. Construction began in 1915 and took ten years to complete. The station’s Great Hall underwent restoration, which was completed in 2019.
Symmetry in the Great Hall of Chicago Union Station balances the ornamentation and scale of the main passenger waiting area. The shining, gilded pair of statues titled “Night and Day” complement each other and accent in a true classical manner the elegant Corinthian Order. Wall sconces light passenger lounges and waiting areas. Four-faced clocks are traditional features in train stations, adding an element of convenience for passengers and crews.A gigantic window lights the entire corridor linking the Great Hall to the ticketing areas and train concourses. Corinthian Order pilasters line the corridor. Warm golden light illuminates the coffered barrel vault ceiling. Sconces light the way to passenger waiting areas on the left and the Metropolitan Lounge on the right.
The interior of the station is centered on the magnificent Great Hall, the main passenger waiting area and connecting point to ticketing areas, the Metropolitan Lounge, food court, and train concourses.
This is the entire span of the skylight over the Great Hall in Chicago Union Station. It is a masterpiece with a cast-iron frame and a new two-tier skylight system. Restoration finished: 2018. Restoration tier: 105-foot-wide x 187- foot-long protective segmented vault and five feet above the original, with aluminum framing. Style: barrel vault. Dimensions of the original skylight: Height above the hall: 115 feet. Length: 177 feet. Square footage: 18,000. Number of sections: 13 individual 12-foot-wide x 83-foot-long segmented sections with a total of 2,068 lights of ¼-inch wire glass.
Replacements of the original lights include 9/16-inch translucent, laminated, heat-strengthened glass. The new skylight is composed of 878 individual lights of high-performance glass with a low-e coating. Companies (industrial): Linetec, Viracon, Goettsch Partners, AMTRAK.About the Union Station Power House.
This sturdy structure was designed for the Chicago Union Station Company by the firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, the same firm that worked on Chicago Union Station. The station was completed in 1925, and the power station was designed in 1931.
Union Station is in the Beaux-arts style, while the power station is in the Art Moderne/Art Deco styles.
Conclusion
Chicago Union Station enters 100 years of service to the transportation industry connections coast to coast. Thousands of passengers and crew members pass through the venerable corridors and concourses every day, boarding and servicing trains and maintaining the facility.
The canopies of Union Station Transit Center lead the perspective up the grade at West Jackson Boulevard from along South Clinton Street. Structures noted include: Union Station Transit Center: 2016, Chicago Union Station: 1925, Fifth Third Center: 1971, Sears Tower: 1974, and Gateway Center IV: 1983
Completed in 2016, the Union Station Transit Center connects commuters to bus lines operated by the Chicago Transit Authority.
Wikipedia contributors. “Galena and Chicago Union Railroad.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 17 Jul. 2024. Web. 12 Aug. 2024.
Wikipedia contributors. “Illinois Central Railroad.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 5 Aug. 2024. Web. 12 Aug. 2024.
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