Savannah Union Station

Savannah Union Station was a train station in Savannah, Georgia. It was located at 419 through 435 West Broad Street, between Stewart and Roberts streets, on the site that is now listed as 435 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. It hosted the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, the Seaboard Air Line Railroad and the Southern Railway. While the term, union station, in the United States generally implies a station that hosts all train companies stopping in a city, the Central of Georgia and the Savannah and Atlanta Railway used other stations in Savannah.[1]

Savannah Union Station
Savannah Union Station, rendering by architect Frank P. Milburn
General information
Line(s)Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
Construction
ArchitectFrank Pierce Milburn
Architectural styleSpanish Renaissance and Elizabethian styles
History
Opened1902 (1902)
Closed1962 (1962)
Former services
Preceding station Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Following station
Georgetown
toward Tampa
 Main Line Hardeeville
toward Richmond
Preceding station Seaboard Air Line Railroad Following station
Interstate
toward Tampa or Miami
 Main Line Clyo
toward Richmond
Terminus East Carolina Line Pritchard
toward Hamlet
Meldrim
toward Montgomery
 Montgomery – Savannah Terminus
Preceding station Southern Railway Following station
Hardeeville
toward Charlotte
 Charlotte – Savannah Terminus

Architecture
Exterior view of Union Station, 1904

It was designed by Columbia, South Carolina architect Frank Pierce Milburn and completed in 1902 at a cost of $150,000. It was an example of Spanish Renaissance and Elizabethian styles. The main feature of the structure was an octagonal rotunda which measured 80 feet in diameter and served as the general waiting room. Since most of the station's history took place under the South's Jim Crow segregation system, a colored waiting room was assigned to African-Americans.[2]

The exterior walls were made of pressed brick with granite and terra cotta trimmings. The building also had two towers.

Significance and history

Many visitors disembarked trains onto West Broad Street.[3] They brought enough business for theaters, bars, stores to open in that section of town. For decades, the Union Station and its surroundings became known as the economic and cultural center for Black Savannah.[4]

In August 1962 the remaining passenger trains were shifted to the new Atlantic Coast Line station on the periphery of Savannah, which remains in use today by Amtrak. A year later, Union Station was demolished to make room for Interstate 16 and what would eventually be known as the Earl T. Shinhoster Interchange.[5]

Named trains

Several named trains made stops at the station:

OperatorsNamed trainsNorthern destinationSouthern destination
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (train continued later under Amtrak)ChampionNew York, New YorkSt. Petersburg, Florida and Miami, Florida
Atlantic Coast Line RailroadEvergladesWashington, D.C.Jacksonville, Florida
Atlantic Coast Line RailroadHavana SpecialNew York, New YorkTampa, Florida and Miami, Florida
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (train continued later under Amtrak)Palmetto (ACL train)New York, New Yorkterminus
Seaboard Air Line RailroadPalmlandNew York, New YorkTampa, Florida and Miami, Florida
Seaboard Air Line Railroad (train continued later under Amtrak)Silver MeteorNew York, New YorkMiami, Florida
Seaboard Air Line RailroadSunlandWashington, D.C. and Portsmouth, VirginiaTampa, Florida
Seaboard Air Line RailroadTidewaterPortsmouth, VirginiaJacksonville, Florida
Southern RailwaySkyland SpecialAsheville, North CarolinaJacksonville, Florida

Current use of the site

An Enmark service station (405 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd) is located nearby what was once the site of the Union Station.

The Savannah Visitor Information Center is in the former Central of Georgia Depot and Trainshed, located nearby, at 301 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.

See also

References
  1. Official Guide of the Railways, August 1936, Index of Stations
  2. The Savannah Press, December 13, 1900
  3. Revitalizing MLK Boulevard: Enough business to go around?, Christian Livermore, Savannah Morning News, May 20, 2007
  4. "The Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum, The New Georgia Encyclopedia, History & Archeology". Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
  5. Acosta, Ruben A. 'Savannah‟s Union Station: Architecture and the Gateway in the South' Master's Thesis, Savannah College of Art and Design, 2010

32.074°N 81.099°W / 32.074; -81.099

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