Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza (Toledo)

The 1886 Union Terminal with a streetcar appearing in the foreground

A union terminal, built in 1886 in the Gothic style, served several of the major rail lines passing through Toledo. Tenant railroads included the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), the New York Central Railroad (as well as its subsidiaries, the CCC & St.L. (Big Four Railroad) and the Michigan Central Railroad), the Pere Marquette Railroad and the Wabash Railroad. The station caught fire in 1930 but remained standing. The damage was later repaired and service resumed.[2]

A new station was being designed for Toledo, but the Great Depression delayed the construction of it. In the 1940s, the Toledo planning commission included rebuilding Union Terminal in a new vision for the city, but the plans were delayed even further by the outbreak of World War II.[3][4]

Aerial view of the Central Union Terminal

Considered one of the last of the New York Central Railroad's (NYC) great stations, the Central Union Terminal opened the week of September 17, 1950.[5] It was the $5 million crown jewel of the railroad's post-war investment in Toledo, a project that also built eight other buildings and, with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, replaced a coal-loading facility in East Toledo with a larger $18.5 million one in Maumee Bay.

Over the next two decades, the Central Union Terminal was used by four major railroads: the NYC, B&O, Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O), the successor to the Pere Marquette, and the Wabash Railroad.

The first floor housed baggage services, while the second floor housed a YMCA for train crews. The passenger terminal and concourse were on the third floor, while the NYC Toledo division and dispatching offices were on the fourth.[6]

Major named trains served at the station to late 1950s and early 1960s:[7][8][9]

• Baltimore & Ohio:
  • Ambassador (Detroit–Baltimore)

• New York Central:
  • Cleveland Mercury (Detroit–Cleveland)

• Wabash:
  • connector trains to Fort Wayne, to connect with St. Louis Special and Wabash Cannon Ball

Major named trains served at the station to late 1960s and 1971:[10][11][12]

• Baltimore and Ohio:
  • Cincinnatian (Detroit–Cincinnati)
  • Night Express (Detroit–Cincinnati)

• Chesapeake and Ohio:
  • Sportsman (Detroit–Phoebus)

• New York Central:
  • Iroquois (Chicago–Boston and New York City)
  • New England States (Chicago–Boston)

Toledo Amtrak sign

Abandoned platforms

Through the late 1990s, Toledo was served by as many as six daily trains, including the Lake Cities from 1980 to 1995 and the Pennsylvanian from 1998 to 2003.

In the early 1990s, local leaders decided against moving Amtrak into smaller, less costly quarters as had been done in many other cities during the 1970s and 80s.[13] The Toledo–Lucas County Port Authority purchased the Central Union Terminal from Conrail for $20,000 in 1995. In 1996, the Port Authority completed an $8.5 million renovation of the building which included a spatial reorganization of the building along with a façade restoration, a new heating and air-conditioning system, a new roof and work on surrounding roadways and landscaping. The reorganization moved passenger areas from the third floor to the ground floor for better access to the street and platforms.[14] No longer a railroad terminal, the building was renamed Central Union Plaza. The former passenger waiting room on the third floor was restored but is now used for meetings and events.

The building took its current name Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza in 2001. Before Amtrak stopped carrying mail in 2005, it stored material handling cars (MHCs) at the plaza on several unused platform tracks. A small number of private cars are often stored on the platform tracks closest to the station.

Toledo has the distinction of hosting the first National Train Day every year, a week before the event is held in other cities nationwide.

For the arrival of Greyhound Lines bus service in 2016, the station was remodeled again to add a ticket counter, office, freight room, a Subway restaurant and bus bays.[15] Greyhound moved into the structure on June 23, 2016.[16] Barons Bus Lines also began service to the station.[17] The facility now serves as a modern intermodal train and bus terminal and office complex.

Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza is served by Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited which operates between New York City/Boston and Chicago, and the Capitol Limited which operates between Washington, D.C., and Chicago. Amtrak uses the two tracks nearest the station while freight trains roll on bypass tracks at the south edge of the railyard. Both westbound trains pass through Toledo early in the morning, while eastbound trains pass through in the middle of the night.

The plaza is also served by Greyhound routes connecting to Chicago; Cleveland; Charleston, West Virginia; Detroit; New York City; and Washington, D.C. Although Greyhound Bus Lines serves this facility, as of May, 1st, 2022 they no longer staff employees or sell tickets from this facility. [18]

The plaza has several arrivals and departures from Barons Bus Lines, with routes to destinations around Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and Michigan. The bus berths face the Emerald Avenue façade of the building.