New Orleans Union Station
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New Orleans Union Station was designed by Louis H. Sullivan for the Illinois Central Railroad. It opened on June 1, 1892.
It fronted on South Rampart Street, riverwards from the current New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal.
The station was used primarily by the Illinois Central Railroad, as the terminus for its main line from Chicago, but, over time, it also served a number of other lines, including the Southern Pacific Railroad and the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad. By the 1940s, a total of 13 passenger trains arrived and departed from the station daily.
New Orleans Union Station was the only train station architect Louis Sullivan designed. It was constructed in the architect's well-known 'Chicago School' style and decorated with his iconic ornament. Adler and Sullivan's head draftsman Frank Lloyd Wright was involved in the final work under Sullivan's supervision.
Union Station was a three story hip-roofed structure with a cupola, including office and waiting areas, with a broad portico with central columns and arched entryways at each end of the entrance.
New Orleans at the time of the station's construction had several separate railway stations including the Texas Pacific Railroad-Missouri Pacific Railroad Station on Annunciation St. between Melpomene and Thalia Streets; The Louisiana and Arkansas-Kansas City Southern Railroad Station at 705 S. Rampart Street; the Southern Railway Terminal at 1125 Canal Street and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Station, on Canal St. near the Mississippi River.
Union Station and the other stations were demolished in 1954 and replaced by the current New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal which were constructed to consolidate the Crescent City's inter-city railroad services.
[edit] References
- Morrison, Hugh. Louis Sullivan: Prophet of Modern Architecture. New York: W.W.Norton, 2001
- DeWitt, Wim (ed.). Louis Sullivan: The Function of Ornament. New York: W.W.Norton, 1996
- "Crescent City Choo Choo" New Orleans Public Library Web site, http://nutrias.org/exhibits/choochoo/choochoo.htm
