Fort Wayne station

The Pennsylvania Railroad Station in Fort Wayne, Indiana, also known as Baker Street Station, is a former passenger rail station in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana. The American Craftsman-style station opened to the public March 23, 1914, at a cost of $550,000.[3][4]

Fort Wayne, IN
Passengers board Amtrak's Broadway Limited at the station in 1974
General information
Location221 Baker Street, Fort Wayne, Indiana
USA
History
OpenedMarch 23, 1914
ClosedNovember 11, 1990[1]
Former services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station
Warsaw
toward Chicago
 Broadway Limited Lima
toward New York
Capitol Limited Lima
toward Washington, D.C.
Preceding station Pennsylvania Railroad Following station
Arcola
toward Chicago
 Main Line Maples
toward New York or Exchange Place
Huntertown
toward Mackinaw City
 Grand Rapids & Indiana Railway Hoagland
toward Richmond
Preceding station Wabash Railroad Following station
Roanoke
toward St. Louis
 St. Louis – Detroit New Haven
toward Detroit
Terminus Fort Wayne – Toledo New Haven
toward Toledo
Pennsylvania Railroad Station
Fort Wayne station is located in Indiana
Fort Wayne station
Fort Wayne station is located in the United States
Fort Wayne station
Location221 West Baker Street, Fort Wayne, Indiana
Coordinates41°4′20″N 85°8′26″W
Built1914
ArchitectGeorge B. Swift & Co., William L. Price
Architectural styleAmerican Craftsman
NRHP reference No.98001056[2]
Added to NRHP1998

History

The station saw its most heavy usage during World War II, when about 3,000 visitors passed through the station daily.[3] The station was also frequented by politicians on whistle stop train tours, including U.S. Presidents Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower.[3] Until 1957 a Grand Rapids originating branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad's Chicago-Florida Southland made a stop in at the station, and picked up passengers from a connecting Wabash Railroad train from Detroit, Michigan.[5][6] Until 1961 the PRR's Cincinnati, Ohio-Mackinaw City, Michigan Northern Arrow also made a stop there, and picked up connecting passenger rail cars from Chicago.[7] Until 1971 the Penn Central ran the Broadway Limited and several other Chicago-New York City passenger trains, Admiral, Manhattan Limited and Pennsylvania Limited through the station.[8]

In the second half of the 20th century, the station served as a stop on Amtrak's Broadway Limited (Chicago—Pittsburgh—New York) and Capitol Limited (Chicago–Pittsburgh–Washington) lines until November 1990 when Amtrak was forced to reroute about 25 miles (40 km) north of Fort Wayne.[9] The nearest active passenger train station is Waterloo (for the Capitol Limited), 32 miles to the north.

View from the northeast

Today, Baker Street Station's concourse is used as a banquet hall and community events space,[10] while the east and west wings have been converted into office space.[3] Over the last decade, residents and local leaders have begun a movement to bring passenger rail service back to the city and station in the form of Amtrak or other high-speed rail service.[11]

Although the station has been without passenger rail service for over 30 years, it has remained a landmark to the city, designated a Fort Wayne Local Historic District in 1990.[12] and later, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998 as the Pennsylvania Railroad Station.[2]

References
  1. "Amtrak Switches Lines to Chicago". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. November 12, 1990. p. 10. Retrieved January 12, 2019 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  2. "Indiana, Allen County". National Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
  3. "History". Baker Street Train Station. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
  4. "Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database (SHAARD)" (Searchable database). Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology. Retrieved 2015-07-01. Note: This includes Creager Smith (July 1997). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Pennsylvania Railroad Station" (PDF). Retrieved 2015-07-01. and Accompanying photographs
  5. Pennsylvania Railroad August 1950 timetable, Table C
  6. Louisville and Nashville December 1948, Table E
  7. Pennsylvania Railroad August 1950 timetable, Table 22
  8. Kanary, George E. (June 2011). "Things Were Not the Same After May 1, 1971" (PDF). First and Fastest. p. 19. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 13, 2016.
  9. Sanders (2006), 24–25.
  10. "Banquet Facility". Baker Street Train Station. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
  11. Caylor, Bob (2009-04-04). "Rally for Fort Wayne train service draws hundreds". The News-Sentinel. Archived from the original on 2009-04-18. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
  12. "Fort Wayne Local Historic Districts". Architecture and Community Heritage (ARCH). Archived from the original on 2013-06-24. Retrieved 2013-06-18.


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