Phoenix Union Station was constructed in 1923 by the Santa Fe and the Arizona Eastern (Southern Pacific) Railroads. The Station is one of the best examples of Mission Revival architecture in Phoenix. The Mission Revival style, a popular building style between 1890 and the 1920s, was typified by such Union Station features as stucco wall finishes, arcades, red tiled roofs, curvilinear gables, massive piers, and impost moldings.
The drawing above depicts the North (Street) Entrance; ARPA thanks Neil Talbott for the donation of his drawing.
Union Station, located at 401 South 4th Avenue, is well poised to serve Phoenix as an intermodal center, tying together renewed Amtrak service (to California, New Mexico, Texas, and points east), high-speed rail to Tucson, regional / commuter rail service across the Valley, light rail service within Valley cities, and buses, all convenient to everything downtown.
According to the "Phoenix Historic Building Survey" by the Phoenix City Council, September 1979:
- Historic Name:
- Union Station of the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe Railroads
- Representation in Existing Surveys:
- State Inventory, Army Corps Survey, Smith Thesis
- Description:
- A large Mission Revival railroad station with a central two-story waiting room structure between long, low arcaded wings. Red-tiled, gabled roofs are terminated by high parapet walls that are shaped with the familiar curves of the Mission Revival at the ends of the wings and in entrance pavilions at both the railroad and street sides of the central pavilion. In keeping with the character of the Mission Revival there are few other decorative details.
- The waiting room is a high, beamed space with original wooden furnishings and particularly fine ceiling light fixtures. There have been some alterations in the waiting room, and the arcaded wings which were originally open as passenger waiting areas have been enclosed. A microwave transmitting tower next to the central pavilion is out of harmony with the structure. The building is in fair condition.
- Significance:
- Union Station was a joint venture between the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe Railroad Companies and was designed by their architect, Peter Kiewit. Dedicated on September 30, 1923, the building was proclaimed a "Monument to the progressiveness and prosperity of the valley and a testimony of the confidence in the future of the Salt River Valley and Phoenix."
- A milestone in Phoenix's development, Union Station ushered in tourism on a grand scale and promoted greater national visibility. Locally significant on architectural and historical grounds, the station appears eligible for listing on the National Register.
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