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This display is located adjacent to the modern-day post office

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.

Railroads and the Postal Service Exhibit

The expansion of railroads after the Civil War spurred significant economic development in Kansas City. It grew into a booming transportation hub, with numerous railroads crossing through the city to ship cattle and other agricultural products. In 1878, a group of businessmen pooled their resources and constructed a large, single train station to accommodate the increase in traffic. Union Depot, as it was known, was located in the West Bottoms neighborhood for close proximity to the stockyards. Built at a cost of $410,000, the building incorporated aspects of Victorian and Gothic architecture, with extensive ornamentation and a 125-foot clock tower. Critics nicknamed it “Kansas City’s Insane Asylum” for the extravagant design. The continued growth of the railroad industry quickly rendered the depot inadequate for the city’s needs. Additionally, passengers transiting through the depot complained about the nearby stockyards as well as surrounding gambling halls, saloons, and brothels. Damages caused to the depot in a 1903 flood provided an impetus for leaders to seek a new location.In 1914, the Kansas City Terminal Railway, a partnership between a dozen area railroads, constructed a massive new Union Station along Main Street. Its creation was part of the “City Beautiful Movement” in Kansas City during the late 1800s and early 1900s. The urban planning campaign sought to improve and beautify the community through the construction of lavish public buildings, parks, and other facilities and amenities. Chicago architect and City Beautiful supporter Jarvis Hunt designed the station in the Beaux-Arts style. The six-story, 850,000 square-foot, T-shaped building was made with limestone and polished granite at a cost of $5.7 million, over twice the original budget. Notable features include a 95-foot-high ceiling, a six-foot-wide clock, and several 3,500-pound chandeliers. At the time of its opening, it was the third largest train station in the United States.Union Station contained railroad offices, lobbies, restaurants, a barbershop, post office, drug store, jail, hospital, and power plant. Until 1938, it also served as the headquarters for the Fred Harvey Company, which operated a chain of restaurants and hotels along major railroads. For many years, it was a bustling center of activity in Kansas City. Thousands of soldiers traveled through here during both world wars; during World War I, over 200 trains a day passed through the station. A young Walt Disney took a one-way train from the station to Los Angeles in July 1923 with all his possessions in a single suitcase.The eastern entrance to the building was the site of the Union Station Massacre (also known as the Kansas City Massacre), which left five people dead. On June 17, 1933, several law enforcement officers, including some FBI agents, were escorting convicted mobster and escaped prisoner Frank Nash to the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. As they were placing Nash into a vehicle in front of Union Station, three of his associates armed with machine guns opened fire on the group in an effort to rescue Nash. Four officers were killed in the shootout, as well as Nash himself. Seeing that their rescue attempt had failed, the shooters fled the scene. The incident prompted a federal investigation and reforms to the FBI, including permission for agents to carry firearms.Union Station entered a precipitous decline in the 1950s that coincided with the nationwide decline in passenger rail traffic. By 1973, only six trains a day were running through the station. When Amtrak left in 1985—ending all passenger train service in the station—the building was left mostly vacant and deteriorating. Grassroots efforts began in the 1990s to save and revitalize the station. In 1994, the nonprofit Union Station Assistance Corporation was established and assumed control over the property. Two years later, voters in four counties in Missouri and Kansas approved a special tax to raise money for a science museum inside the station. This, coupled with private donations and federal funding, led to a $250 million renovation project. The work included restoring the station to its original appearance as much as possible while leaving space open for new amenities.Union Station reopened to the public in 1999 with the introduction of Science City, an interactive science museum housed in the former train sheds. Over the following years the station added historical exhibits, restaurants, offices, retail space, event spaces, galleries, theaters, and a planetarium. The commercial ventures help to keep the station financially sustainable. Passenger train service was restored to the station in 2002 when Amtrak resumed operations in the facility.

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.

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.

Grand Hall and Harvey's Restaurant

The area around the Jarvis Hunt Room includes signage and displays about Hunt and his work, which included several iterations before settling on the current design. For example, Hunt's initial design incorporated glass throughout the exterior, including a plan for a domed glass ceiling over the entirety of Grand Plaza. The 1908 design also extended Grand Hall further to the east and included a domed ceiling over that space as well.

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.

Jarvis Hunt Room

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.

Grand Plaza, Union Station

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.

Model Train Exhibit

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, &amp; Santa Fe Railroad. The Harvey House restaurants also provided viable employment for many cooks and servers, known affectionately at that time as "Harvey Girls."

Amtrak Waiting Room and Fred Harvey Sign

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.

Haverty Railroad Gallery

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.

Railroad China Collection Pierpont's Restaurant 

The Kansas City MassacreThe foundation of the Kansas City Massacre involved an attempt by Floyd, Miller, and Richetti to free the federal prisoner Frank Nash from the hands of the FBI. Nash’s previous convictions included a life sentence for murder in 1913 (pardoned), a 25-year sentence for burglary with explosives in 1920 (pardoned), and a 25-year sentence for assaulting a mail custodian in 1924 (escaped with seven other prisoners in 1931). On June 16th, 1933, and based on information from two captured bank robbers who were associates with Nash, two FBI agents and an Oklahoma Police Chief captured Frank Nash in Hot Springs, Arkansas. At 8:30pm on June 16th, the officers and Nash boarded a train to Kansas City, which would arrive at 7:15 a.m. Before leaving, the three officers arranged for the agent in charge of the FBI’s Kansas City office to meet them at the Union Railway Station. News of Nash’s capture spread through the underworld quickly, and so did the time of the FBI’s arrival in Kansas City. Four men organized a conspiracy to free Nash, and they gave Vernon Miller the task. Pretty Boy Floyd and Adam Richietti agreed to aid the mission. On the morning of June 17th, the three gunmen took positions outside the Union Railway Station and awaited the FBI’s arrival. A total of seven officers were leaving the Union Railway Station with Frank Nash. Two of them had shotguns, while the other officers carried pistols. Walking outside the station, the officers didn’t find anything suspicious, and moved Nash to the transport car (a Chevrolet). Some officers were inside the car with Nash, with others outside, when two of the armed gunmen ran up to the car. One FBI officer noted that at least one of them had a machine gun. At first, a gunman told the officers to put their hands up, but a few seconds later, a command came forth saying, “Let ‘em have it!”While the two gunmen approached the Chevrolet, the third snuck up behind the radiator of another car and opened fire with a machine gun. Two officers immediately fell to the ground, another FBI officer (the agent in charge of the FBI’s Kansas City Office) fell with a fatal wound in the head, and both Nash and the Oklahoma Police Chief were killed from inside the car. The three gunmen successfully escaped, and in total, the assault lasted about 30 seconds. On November 33rd, 1933, Vernon Miller’s mutilated corpse was found in a ditch on the outskirts of Detroit. Floyd and Richetti went on the run together for over a year, and Richetti was captured near Wellsville, Ohio, on October 20th in 1934. A gunfight ensued in this capture, and Pretty Boy Floyd escaped, possibly wounded. Two days later, officers found Floyd outside Clarkson, Ohio, and another gunfight ensued. Floyd was hit twice, captured, and taken to a hospital. He died 15 minutes after being shot. The four other men who had engineered the conspiracy to free Floyd were indicted by a Grand Jury in Kansas City two days after Floyd was killed. A year later, all four men were found guilty.1 Inscription on the MarkerRAYMOND J. CAFFREY Special Agent, Federal Bureau of Investigation OTTO REED Chief of Police, McAlester, Oklahoma WILLIAM J. GROOMS Detective, Kansas City Missouri Police Department FRANK HERMANSON Detective, Kansas City Missouri Police DepartmentNear this location the above named officers were slain and FBI Agents Francis J. Lackey and Reed E. Vetterli were wounded while transferring Federal prisoner Frank Nash, who had been apprehended the previous day, to the Federal Penitentiary, Leavenworth, Kansas.While in the parking lot at Union Station these officers were attacked by Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd, Vernon Miller and Adam Richetti, who intended to free Nash. Nash was unintentionally killed in the hail of Tommygun and shotgun fire. This incident so outraged the American public that new Federal legislation was enacted the following year. Such crimes as bank robbery and extortion became Federal offenses and FBI Agents were authorized to carry firearms.

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.

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

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.

Kansas City Union Station

Railroads and the Postal Service Exhibit

Introduction

Images

Sources