The Pennsylvania Railroad Station in Fort Wayne, Indiana, also known as Baker Street Station, is a former passenger rail station in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana. The American Craftsman-style station opened to the public March 23, 1914, at a cost of $550,000.[3][4]
Fort Wayne, IN | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Passengers board Amtrak's Broadway Limited at the station in 1974 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | 221 Baker Street, Fort Wayne, Indiana USA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | March 23, 1914 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Closed | November 11, 1990[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former services | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Pennsylvania Railroad Station | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Location | 221 West Baker Street, Fort Wayne, Indiana | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 41°4′20″N 85°8′26″W / 41.07222°N 85.14056°W | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Built | 1914 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Architect | George B. Swift & Co., William L. Price | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Architectural style | American Craftsman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NRHP reference No. | 98001056[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Added to NRHP | 1998 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
History
editThe station saw its most heavy usage during World War II, when about 3,000 visitors passed through the station daily.[3] The station was also frequented by politicians on whistle stop train tours, including U.S. Presidents Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower.[3] Until 1957 a Grand Rapids originating branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad's Chicago-Florida Southland made a stop in at the station, and picked up passengers from a connecting Wabash Railroad train from Detroit, Michigan.[5][6] Until 1961 the PRR's Cincinnati, Ohio-Mackinaw City, Michigan Northern Arrow also made a stop there, and picked up connecting passenger rail cars from Chicago.[7] Until 1971 the Penn Central ran the Broadway Limited and several other Chicago-New York City passenger trains, Admiral, Manhattan Limited and Pennsylvania Limited through the station.[8]
In the second half of the 20th century, the station served as a stop on Amtrak's Broadway Limited (Chicago—Pittsburgh—New York) and Capitol Limited (Chicago–Pittsburgh–Washington) lines until November 1990 when Amtrak was forced to reroute about 25 miles (40 km) north of Fort Wayne.[9] The nearest active passenger train station is Waterloo (for the Capitol Limited), 32 miles to the north.
Today, Baker Street Station's concourse is used as a banquet hall and community events space,[10] while the east and west wings have been converted into office space.[3] Over the last decade, residents and local leaders have begun a movement to bring passenger rail service back to the city and station in the form of Amtrak or other high-speed rail service.[11]
Although the station has been without passenger rail service for over 30 years, it has remained a landmark to the city, designated a Fort Wayne Local Historic District in 1990.[12] and later, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998 as the Pennsylvania Railroad Station.[2]
References
edit- ^ "Amtrak Switches Lines to Chicago". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. November 12, 1990. p. 10. Retrieved January 12, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Indiana, Allen County". National Register of Historic Places. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
- ^ a b c d "History". Baker Street Train Station. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
- ^ "Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database (SHAARD)" (Searchable database). Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology. Retrieved July 1, 2015. Note: This includes Creager Smith (July 1997). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Pennsylvania Railroad Station" (PDF). Retrieved July 1, 2015. and Accompanying photographs
- ^ Pennsylvania Railroad August 1950 timetable, Table C
- ^ Louisville and Nashville December 1948, Table E
- ^ Pennsylvania Railroad August 1950 timetable, Table 22
- ^ Kanary, George E. (June 2011). "Things Were Not the Same After May 1, 1971" (PDF). First and Fastest. p. 19. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 13, 2016.
- ^ Sanders (2006), 24–25.
- ^ "Banquet Facility". Baker Street Train Station. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
- ^ Caylor, Bob (April 4, 2009). "Rally for Fort Wayne train service draws hundreds". The News-Sentinel. Archived from the original on April 18, 2009. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
- ^ "Fort Wayne Local Historic Districts". Architecture and Community Heritage (ARCH). Archived from the original on June 24, 2013. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
External links
edit
Media related to Pennsylvania Railroad Station (Fort Wayne, Indiana) at Wikimedia Commons- Baker Street Station
