Kansas City Union Station (Tour) - Clio

Entries on This Tour

1. Grand Hall and Harvey's Restaurant

Visitors to Kansas City following its opening in 1914 considered Union Station's Grand Hall to be the city's front porch. For nearly anyone in that era, Union Station was the first impression and final memory for those traveling to or from the city. Following a $250 million restoration funded by a sales tax levy and private investment, the station reopened in 1999 with a variety of restaurants and attractions. The central feature of Grand Hall is Harvery's Restaurant, a nod to the influence of Kansas City-area railroad restaurant innovator Fred Harvey.

2. Railroads and the Postal Service Exhibit

One of the most important functions of Union Station was the receipt and sorting of mail. Similar to other train stations, the United States Postal Service was the largest cargo customer, and their sorting offices occupied much of the basement. On a given week, postal clerks at Union Station sorted two million cubic feet of letters, parcels, and catalogs. These displays include a variety of artifacts and photographs that share the history of the postal service and its connection to Union Station and are located next to the modern-day post office which is open daily.

3. Jarvis Hunt Room

Named in honor of Jarvis Hunt, the Cicago-based architect who designed Union Station, this space at the northwest corner of Grand Hall was home to a men's smoking lounge. The space is now utilized for banquets and meetings. The room features some of Union's Station's historic chandeliers and marble floors. Jarvis Hunt designed numerous structures throughout the nation, including some of Kansas City's current landmarks like the Kansas City Star Building and the Commerce Trust Building.

4. Grand Plaza, Union Station

For decades, this grand space was Kansas City's front porch as travelers arrived and departed from the train platforms connected to this waiting area. Following the restoration of Union Station, the Grand Plaza has become one of the most sought-after event spaces hosting events for some of Kansas City's largest companies.

5. Model Train Exhibit

Created and maintained entirely by volunteers, this extensive model train exhibit features eight different scales or sizes that run simultaneously in a variety of exhibits, including some that feature recreations of some of Kansas City's most iconic buildings. The trains can be viewed at no cost within an eight thousand square foot exhibit space that includes around five or six dozen trains running at the same time. Volunteers expand the display each holiday season as part of Union Station's seasonal celebration.

6. Amtrak Waiting Room and Fred Harvey Sign

Union Station continues to serve rail passengers and offers this waiting room next to a historic sign for Fred Harvey's restaurant chain which once operated throughout the region. Perhaps the first true chain restaurant in American history, Fred Harvey's railroad depots thrived because they met a need in an era when travelers had few dining options. Fred Harvey pioneered a model that served travelers quickly and efficiently, and his methods were soon repeated at depots along the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe Railroad. The Harvey House restaurants also provided viable employment for many cooks and servers, known affectionately at that time as "Harvey Girls."

7. Haverty Railroad Gallery

This small gallery in Union Station shares art and artifacts related to the history of the twelve railroad companies that worked together to form the Kansas City Terminal Railway which made the construction and operation of this rail station possible and profitable. The gallery is named in honor of Michael R and Marlys Haverty, prominent supporters of Union Station.

8. Railroad China Collection Pierpont's Restaurant

Celebrating fine dining on the rails and at Union Station, this collection of china and silverware from various railroads that served Kansas City is located next to Pierpont's Restaurant.

9. Officer's Memorial and Bullet Holes from the Kansas City Massacre, 1933

In the 1920s and early 1930s, before the devastating effects of the Great Depression really took the country by storm, the United States was going through a “golden period.” Alcohol may have been prohibited, but the national fervor was widely apparent. Along with Prohibition, however, organized crime in New York and Chicago put millions of dollars in the hands of criminals and murderers, and well into the 1930s, organized crime often resulted in several grueling, bloody events. On the morning of June 17th, 1933, infamous gangster Charles Arthur “Pretty Boy” Floyd and two other constituents, Vernon Miller and Adam Richetti, murdered four police officers and a prisoner in front of the Union Railway Station in Kansas City. This mass murder shocked the nation and drew significant exposure to the nature of organized crime, and this act thereafter changed many of the standard procedures of the FBI.

10. Union Station's Lamp Post Clock

This historic clock predates Union Station and the railroad station in the West Bottoms that served the city in the late 19th century. The clock dates back to the 1880s and was located at the corner of 10th and Main. The clock was refurbished and restored in the late 1990s thanks to the Helzberg family. The clock was damaged in a 2015 storm but restored thanks to the Rainen family and dedicated at this location in 2016.

This Tour is a Virtual Museum or Site Tour.

Kansas City Union Station

Created by David J. Trowbridge on July 1st 2016, 6:18:18 am.

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Description

The third-largest railroad station in the nation when it was completed in 1914, Kansas City's Union Station has been restored to its former grandeur and offers a variety of educational and cultural offerings, including Science City, several theaters, restaurants, office and retail space, and museum exhibits. The Beaux-Arts style building, noted for its colossal size and fine ornamentation, was part of the "City Beautiful Movement" to develop more green space and aesthetically pleasing public facilities in Kansas City. The station served as the heart of Kansas City's booming transportation industry in the early twentieth century, when the city was at the intersection of multiple railroads. During its heyday, over 200 trains passed through the station daily. The facility experienced a period of decline and deterioration from the 1950s to the 1980s as passenger rail traffic collapsed. Community efforts starting in the 1990s led to a $250 million project to restore the station and revitalize it as a major commercial and educational center. It serves as a model for the potential of adaptive reuse in historical structures. Union Station was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

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