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Washington
DC's Union Station
Location: 40 Massachusetts Ave., NE, Washington, DC
Washington DC's Union Station was crucial to the development
of modern Washington. When the Pennsylvania and Baltimore & Ohio Railroads announced
in 1901 that they planned to build a new terminal, people in the city celebrated
for two reasons.
The decision meant, first of all, that the Pennsylvania
Railroad (PRR) would soon remove its tracks and terminal from the Mall Though changes
there appeared only gradually, the PRR's move allowed the creation of the Mall as
it appeared today. Second, the plans to bring all the city's railroads under one
roof promised that Washington would finally have a station large enough to handle
large crowds and impressive enough to reflect the growing importance of the United
States.
Architects Daniel Burnham and Pierce Anderson used a number
of techniques to convey this message: neoclassical elements that connected Washington
to Athens and Rome; a massive scale, including a facade stretching more than 600'
and a waiting room ceiling 96' above the floor; expensive materials such as marble,
gold leaf, and granite from a previously unused quarry; and an orientation that
faced their building towards the US Capitol, just five blocks away. The terminal
quickly became a center of Washington life, but at no
time was it busier than during
World War II, when as many as 200,000 people passed through in a single day.
Like most American railroad stations, its financial and
physical condition deteriorated after the war as train travel declined. In the 1960s
and 1970s the Federal government tried unsuccessfully to make it into a visitor
center. The station reopened in its present form in 1988 with shops, restaurants,
and movie theaters occupying the original building, and a new Amtrak terminal at
the back. Today Union Station is again one of Washington's busiest and best-known
places, visited
by 20 million people each year.
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DC Travel Guide
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Washington DC for Families Travel Guide
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