Great Overland Station, listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Union Pacific Railroad Passenger Depot, is a museum and former railroad station in Topeka, Kansas, United States. The station was built from 1925 to 1927 and designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood, whose firm designed over 20 Union Pacific Railroad stations from 1924 to 1931. The station's Free Classical Revival design uses terra cotta extensively and features a center pavilion with two increasingly smaller pavilions on either side. Passenger service to the station began in January 1927; almost 20,000 people attended the station's grand opening, and the new station was considered "one of the largest and finest stations west of the Missouri River".[2] In the later years of its train station life, it also hosted the passenger trains of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (Rock Island Lines). The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway 'Santa Fe' had its trains stop at its own Topeka station.[3]
Union Pacific Railroad Passenger Depot | |
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   | |
| Location | 701 N. Kansas Ave., Topeka, Kansas |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 39°3′58″N 95°40′10″W / 39.06611°N 95.66944°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1925–1927 |
| Architect | Underwood, Gilbert Stanley |
| MPS | Railroad Resources of Kansas MPS |
| NRHP reference No. | 02000492[1] |
| Added to NRHP | October 1, 2002 |
Passenger trains
edit- Rock Island passenger trains included the:[4]
- Golden State
- Imperial
- Oklahoma Rocket
- Twin Star Rocket
- Union Pacific trains included the:[5]
- City of St. Louis
- Pony Express
Decline
editPassenger totals at the station declined through the 1950s and 1960s, and the last regular passenger service to the station ended in 1971. The Union Pacific Railroad repurposed the station as office space and a customer service center before abandoning the building in 1989. In 1992, a fire damaged the western part of the station; the same year, the group Railroad Heritage, Inc. (then known as Topeka Railroad Days, Inc.) agreed to consider renovating the station. The station was extensively rehabilitated from 2000 to 2002 and is now a railroad heritage museum.[2]
The Great Overland Station was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 1, 2002.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ a b "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Union Pacific Railroad Passenger Depot". National Park Service. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
- ^ Official Guide of the Railways December 1951, Index of Railroad Stations
- ^ Official Guide of the Railways December 1951, Rock Island Lines section
- ^ Official Guide of the Railways December 1951, Union Pacific section
| Preceding station | Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Topeka toward Tucumcari
|
Tucumcari – Rock Island | Herington toward Rock Island
| ||
| Topeka toward Teague
|
Teague – Minneapolis | Herington toward Minneapolis
| ||
| Terminus | North Topeka – St. Joseph | Elmont toward St. Joseph
| ||
| Preceding station | Union Pacific Railroad | Following station | ||
| Menoken toward Denver
|
Kansas Pacific Railway | Grantville toward Kansas City
| ||
External links
edit
- Great Overland Station official website Archived March 28, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
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