Terminal Station (Atlanta)

Terminal Station was the larger of two principal train stations in downtown Atlanta, Union Station being the other. Opening in 1905, Terminal Station served Southern Railway, Seaboard Air Line, Central of Georgia (including the Nancy Hanks to Savannah), and the Atlanta and West Point. The architect was P. Thornton Marye, whose firm also designed the Fox Theater[1] and Capital City Club in downtown Atlanta, as well as the Birmingham Terminal Station.

Terminal Station
Inter-city rail
Terminal Station in 1918.
General information
Location	75 Spring Street SW Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Coordinates	33.753°N 84.396°W / 33.753; -84.396
History
Opened	May 1905[1]
Closed	June 1970 (demolished 1972)[1]
Rebuilt	1947[2]
Former services
Preceding station Atlanta, Birmingham and Coast Railroad Following station Terminus Atlanta – Waycross until mid-1930s Ben Hill toward Waycross Preceding station Central of Georgia Railway Following station Terminus Main Line Fort McPherson toward Savannah Suburban trains Mitchell Street toward Jonesboro Preceding station Seaboard Air Line Railroad Following station Floyd toward Birmingham Birmingham – Monroe Emory toward Monroe Preceding station Southern Railway Following station Chattahoochee toward Birmingham Main Line Atlanta Peachtree toward Washington, D.C. Austell toward Chattanooga Chattanooga – Jacksonville Roseland toward Jacksonville Roseland toward Columbus, GA Columbus, GA – Atlanta Terminus Terminus Atlanta – Fort Valley Roseland toward Fort Valley Preceding station West Point Route Following station East Point toward Montgomery Main Line Terminus

At the station's opening in 1905 the military band of the 16th Infantry Regiment played "Down in Dixie" according to a report that appeared in the Atlanta Journal.[3] On May 21, 1910, a statue of Samuel Spencer, who had served as the first president of Southern Railway, was dedicated at the station, where it would remain until the station's closing.[4]

In its 20th century heyday, Terminal Station was used by such well-known trains of the time as the Crescent, Man 'o War, Nancy Hanks, Ponce de Leon, and Silver Comet. A veritable rail-travel crossroads of the American south-east, it was a critical railroad link between the warm climate of Florida and the Gulf Coast, and the rather colder, more densely populated states of the north-east and mid-west. For many residents of the Northeast, Terminal Station was the gateway to the sunshine. The Atlanta Convention Bureau released a postcard in the 1920s that claimed that Terminal Station was served by 86 trains per day.[5]

The train shed that had originally been built alongside the head house was torn down in 1925.[6] The Southern Railway built an office building next door to the station at 99 Spring Street that is still standing, although the Southern eventually moved their local offices to another building in Atlanta.[6] On 17 May 1938 a five-story Terminal Hotel, that had been built across the street from Terminal Station, burned in a disaster that claimed 27 lives.[7][8]

Terminal Station showing its shortened towers, c. 1949

The station head house was renovated in 1947 just after World War II.[2]

After Terminal Station closed in June 1970, Southern continued to operate its Southern Crescent and Piedmont passenger trains using the much smaller Peachtree Station, commonly known as Brookwood Station and built as a suburban station, as their only stop in Atlanta. The only other passenger train remaining at that time that had been using Terminal Station, the Nancy Hanks, used a makeshift ticket office and waiting room in the Southern office building next door.

Terminal Station was razed in 1972, and the Richard B. Russell Federal Building,[1] built in 1979, currently occupies the site.[9]

The last remains of the station were an interlocking tower and a portion of one of the station platforms retained by the Southern, the former demolished in June, 2018, and the latter demolished November, 2019.