Grand Rapids Union Station Explained

Grand Rapids Union Station was a union station in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A Georgian Revival building of two stories, it was built in 1900 on 61 Ionia Avenue SW and was closed in 1958. The building was demolished in 1958 and 1959 to make space for the U.S. Route 131 highway.^{[1] [2]}

History

In five years after Union Station's 1900 construction, 750,000 passengers passed through it. In early decades, Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad excursion trains to the station brought more than 2000 visitors from southern Michigan and Indiana on Sundays.^[3]

Passenger services

The station served the Pere Marquette Railway (after the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway acquired the PM in 1947 C&O trains passed through), Michigan Central Railroad and Pennsylvania Railroad (which had acquired the GR&I). The Grand Trunk Western Railway and the New York Central Railroad were served at other stations in Grand Rapids.^[4] By 1946, Michigan Central operations were entirely folded into New York Central operations.^[5]

Noteworthy passenger train service at 1950 included:

• Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (formerly the Pere Marquette Railway):^{[6] [7]}
  • Pere Marquettes (Detroit [Fort Street Union Depot]–Lansing–Grand Rapids)
  • Resort Special (summer only night train, Chicago [Central Station]–Petoskey)
  • Grand Rapids–Petoskey; unnamed segments in off-season
• New York Central Railroad:^[8]
  • unnamed train (Grand Rapids–Jackson–Detroit [Michigan Central Station])
• Pennsylvania Railroad:^{[9] [10]}
  • Northern Arrow (summer only night train, Cincinnati [Cincinnati Union Terminal]–Fort Wayne–Grand Rapids–Petoskey–Mackinaw City; unnamed segments in off-season)
  • unnamed local train on same route as above
  • unnamed train timed to connect at Cincinnati to the Louisville & Nashville's Southland, bound for Florida

Waning years

By the 1960s the Chesapeake and Ohio's trains were the only trains serving the successor to the station. The Chicago–Grand Rapids trains were added to the appellation, the Pere Marquettes in 1965. These trains ended in 1971 when C&O passed control of its passenger trains over to Amtrak.

Present-day station

In 1984 passenger trains returned with the introduction of Amtrak's Pere Marquette trains between Chicago and Grand Rapids. In 2004, the Vernon J. Ehlers Station, Grand Rapids' new station, opened.

External links

• Grand Rapids Historical Commission report, photos on page 5, of the trainshed and the structure facing the street

42.9615°N -85.6706°W

Notes and References

1. Grand Rapids Historical Commission, "Taking the Train" http://www.historygrandrapids.org/audio/2532/taking-the-train
2. Great American Stations, 'Grand Rapids, MI (GRR)' https://www.greatamericanstations.com/stations/grand-rapids-mi-grr/
3. Grand Rapids Historical Commission, "Taking the Train" http://www.historygrandrapids.org/audio/2532/taking-the-train
4. Index of Railroad Stations, p. 1556. Official Guide of the Railways . National Railway Publication Company . 69 . 9 . February 1932.
5. Index of Railroad Stations, p. 1342. Official Guide of the Railways . National Railway Publication Company . 78 . 12 . May 1946.
6. Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, Table 46 . Official Guide of the Railways . National Railway Publication Company . 82 . 3 . August 1949.
7. Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, Tables 48, 49 . Official Guide of the Railways . National Railway Publication Company . 82 . 8 . January 1950.
8. New York Central Railroad, Table 37 . Official Guide of the Railways . National Railway Publication Company . 82 . 8 . January 1950.
9. Pennsylvania Railroad, Table 192 . Official Guide of the Railways . National Railway Publication Company . 82 . 3 . January 1950.
10. Pennsylvania Railroad, Tables 11, 192 . Official Guide of the Railways . National Railway Publication Company . 82 . 8 . January 1950.