59-471: The Indianapolis Union Station is an intercity train station in the Wholesale District of Indianapolis, Indiana . Currently, Amtrak 's Cardinal line serves the terminal, passing through Indianapolis three times a week. Initially, Indianapolis created the world's first union station in 1848. Subsequently, the station building opened on September 20, 1853, at 39 Jackson Place, operated by
118-667: A central location and purchase the same items at wholesale prices. With Union Station nearby, wholesalers could ship goods more cheaply and efficiently. The collapse of the economy during the Great Depression devastated the area, with few businesses remaining. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Indianapolis Union Station-Wholesale District in 1982, primarily for its notability as
177-547: A day were being serviced, forcing the station to eventually build an expansive train shed on an elevated platform (built from 1915 to 1922) so as not to interfere with regular street traffic. It was once second only to Chicago 's Union Station as a Midwest railroad hub. In the 1940s, several railroads still called at the station: the Baltimore & Ohio , the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railroad ( Monon Railroad ),
236-401: A direct underground connection was deemed to not be economically feasible. The city of Indianapolis was forced to take ownership of Union Station and began to try to find another reuse for much of the building. After some time, it began leasing out space for a wide variety of purposes, including office use and an indoor go-kart track. In 2002, the 21st Century Charter School was started within
295-411: A large food court, plus several self-contained bars and nightclubs. Statues of individuals who might have been seen in the railroad station in prior years were installed throughout the facility. The 273-room Crowne Plaza Hotel took up much of the western portion of the train shed, with 26 of its rooms being housed within thirteen old Pullman cars . In 1997, the facility's marketplace era concluded with
354-405: A railroad station to a festival marketplace . The Indianapolis architecture firm of Woollen, Molzan and Partners was responsible for the restoration of the station's historic shed, which reopened in 1986. Union Station became a collection of restaurants, nightclubs, and specialty stores that included an NBC Store and a model train retailer. The eastern end of the former train platform area featured
413-837: A section of the Cardinal on the days that the Cardinal ran. The southbound train split from the eastbound Cardinal at Union Station, while the northbound train joined the westbound Cardinal for the journey to Chicago. With the discontinuation of the Hoosier State , Indianapolis is served by only one train for only the second time in its history. The station is served by two Amtrak Thruway lines–one serving western and central Illinois (the Quad Cities , Peoria , Bloomington-Normal , Champaign-Urbana , and Danville ) and another that stops at Nashville, Louisville, and Cincinnati en route to Chicago. Since 1979, Amtrak passengers use
472-490: A trickle that, in cities in which rail stations did not serve commuter traffic, most were allowed to physically decline to a point where many were closed and some demolished. Indianapolis's Union Station almost suffered that fate. By the late 1970s, vagrants and vandals had taken over much of the facility and numerous police and fire runs were made to the cavernous building. Local business and political leaders began looking for some way to preserve Union Station and transform it into
531-525: A vital part of the city again. Also in the 1970s, Amtrak planned to run its proposed AutoTrak service out of the Indianapolis Union Station, but this planned service was ultimately scrapped. In 1971, the city's mayor allocated $ 197,000 toward purchasing the building. The station was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 14, 1982. Beginning in 1984, the facility was renovated and converted from its primary use as
590-541: A waiting area beneath the train shed. The station is served by the Cardinal (Chicago–New York City, via Cincinnati and Washington, DC), and was the eastern terminus of the Hoosier State until its discontinuation on June 30, 2019. Thomas Rodd's design clearly shows the influence of architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). Historian James R. Hetheringon concluded that Rodd, who was from Pittsburgh, studied
649-461: A waiting area in the southern portion of Union Station's old train shed, at street level along Illinois Street. The Amtrak station is co-located with the city's Greyhound bus depot, making this a multi-modal transportation hub, albeit a small one. As of January 2019, there is no commuter or light rail service in Indianapolis. The Greyhound ticket office is located along a wall opposite
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#1732780331722708-569: The City of New Orleans and the Illini and Saluki between Chicago and Carbondale. Another Illinois corridor service is planned for the former Black Hawk route between Chicago, Rockford and Dubuque. Amtrak, at the state of Illinois' request, did a feasibility study to reinstate the Black Hawk route to Rockford and Dubuque. Initial capital costs range from $ 32 million to $ 55 million, depending on
767-566: The Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico . Another line connected Chicago west to Sioux City, Iowa (1870), while smaller branches reached Omaha, Nebraska (1899) from Fort Dodge, Iowa , and Sioux Falls, South Dakota (1877), from Cherokee, Iowa . The IC also ran service to Miami , Florida, on trackage owned by other railroads. The IC, founded in 1851, pioneered the financing later used by several long distance U.S. railroads whose construction
826-799: The Hilbert Circle Theatre , home of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra , which underwent a $ 2.5 million renovation in 2003. St. Elmo Steak House has been a fixture in the district since its founding in 1902. Illinois Central The Illinois Central Railroad ( reporting mark IC ), sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America , was a railroad in the Central United States . Its primary routes connected Chicago , Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana , and Mobile, Alabama , and thus,
885-800: The Illinois Central , the New York Central , the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad ( Nickel Plate Road ), and the Pennsylvania Railroad . After World War II, intercity passenger rail travel in the United States began to decline. Passenger services, particularly named trains, at the union station included: Throughout the 1960s and well into the Amtrak era, the number of train passengers declined to such
944-639: The Illinois Central Gulf Railroad ( reporting mark ICG ). October 30 of that year saw the Illinois Central Gulf commuter rail crash , the company's deadliest. At the end of 1980, ICG operated 8,366 miles of railroad on 13,532 miles of track; that year it reported 33,276 million ton-miles of revenue freight and 323 million passenger-miles. Later in that decade, the railroad spun off most of its east–west lines and many of its redundant north–south lines, including much of
1003-557: The Indiana Pacers academy (another charter school). Many of the building's internal directories still display Spanish as well as English, reflecting the demographic changes in Indianapolis, as well as being a left over from the days when the building housed the Mexican Consulate. The Grand Hall of Union Station is also rented out for banquets and other special events. In January 2011, a new underground walkway between
1062-607: The Indianapolis Union Railway . Later, a larger Richardsonian Romanesque station designed by Pittsburgh architect Thomas Rodd, was built at the same location starting in November 1886 and opened in September 1888. The head house (main waiting area and office) and clock tower of this second station still stand today. Today, Amtrak , the national rail passenger carrier, continues to serve Union Station from
1121-590: The Memphis and Charleston Railroad at Grand Junction, Tennessee and the Mobile and Ohio Railroad at Jackson, Tennessee. The Mississippi Central was the scene of several military actions from 1862 to 1863 and was severely damaged during the fighting. Company president, Absolom M. West succeeded in repairing the damage and returning it to operating condition soon after the end of the War. By 1874, interchange traffic with
1180-553: The National Limited in 1979, severing Indianapolis from the national rail network. It also isolated Amtrak's primary maintenance facility, the Beech Grove Shops in nearby Beech Grove . Rail service returned to Indianapolis in 1980, when the Hoosier State began running daily to Chicago. Northbound trains would leave in the morning, while southbound trains would arrive in the evening. It was joined in 1986 by
1239-698: The Panama Limited, the Electric District appears as "Panama Orange" on Metra system maps and timetables. Additionally, the IC operated a second commuter line out of Chicago (the West Line ) which served Chicago's western suburbs. Unlike the electrified commuter service, the West Line did not generate much traffic and was eliminated in 1931. Amtrak presently runs three trains daily over this route,
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#17327803317221298-614: The "Pearl and Leaf Rivers Railroad" was built by the J.J. Newman Lumber Company from Hattiesburg , to Sumrall . In 1904 the name was changed to the Mississippi Central Railroad ( reporting mark MSC ). In 1906 the Natchez and Eastern Railway was formed to build a rail line from Natchez to Brookhaven . In 1909 this line was absorbed by the Mississippi Central. For a short time during the 1920s,
1357-444: The 1880s, northern lines were built to Dodgeville, Wisconsin ; Sioux Falls, South Dakota ; and Omaha, Nebraska . Further expansion continued into the early twentieth century. The Illinois Central, and the other "Harriman lines" owned by E.H. Harriman by the twentieth century, became the target of the Illinois Central shopmen's strike of 1911 . Although marked by violence and sabotage in the southern, midwestern, and western states,
1416-762: The Amtrak era. When Amtrak began operations in 1971, it ran three trains through Indianapolis–the South Wind , the James Whitcomb Riley , and the Spirit of St. Louis . However, most of these trains ran over deteriorating Penn Central trackage, and Amtrak eventually routed all of them away from Indianapolis except for the National Limited , successor of the Spirit of St. Louis. Amtrak withdrew
1475-517: The Amtrak ticket office. In FY 2013, Indianapolis averaged about 99 passengers daily, among the fewest for a station serving a metropolitan area of more than two million people. It is the busiest stop in Indiana served by Amtrak. The 1888 station building is mostly leased for offices to pay for the building upkeep. The city struggled with finding a use for the building that is financially viable and high-profile. The Crowne Plaza Hotel still operates in
1534-583: The Circle Centre Mall development, sold cigars; Hanson, VanCamp & Co. sold hardware. In addition, S. Delaware St. became known as "Commission Row", where farmers brought their produce to merchants who sold the goods for a commission fee. The Wholesale District was of primary importance in the transformation of Indianapolis from a small town to a big city. Customers no longer had to rely on retailers who sold finished goods shipped from Louisville, Kentucky , or Cincinnati, Ohio . They could now go to
1593-633: The Illinois Central Railroad was important enough that the IC installed a Nutter hoist at Cairo, Illinois to interchange between its standard gauge equipment broad gauge used by the Mississippi Central. This allowed the trucks to be exchanged on 16-18 freight cars per hour; a Pullman car could be changed in 15 minutes. The original Mississippi Central line was merged into the Illinois Central Railroad subsidiary Chicago, St. Louis and New Orleans Railroad in several transactions finally completed in 1878. A line started in 1897 as
1652-719: The New York-to-Chicago Cardinal , successor of the James Whitcomb Riley. For most of the time from 1986 until Indiana withdrew its support for the train in June 2019, the Hoosier State ran on the four days that the Cardinal did not operate, thereby providing daily service along the route. From 1999 to 2003, the station was served by the Kentucky Cardinal , an extension of the Hoosier State that ran to Louisville , operating as
1711-588: The Romanesque style. Additionally, it includes an enormous rose window , slate roof, bartizans at section corners, and a soaring 185-foot (56 m) clock tower. The 1888 station also held a large street-level iron train shed . The first railroad to reach Indianapolis was the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad , which began service there in 1847. Competing railroads began connecting Indianapolis to other locations, but each had its own station in various parts of
1770-406: The United States with hundreds of passenger trains arriving at Union Station daily. The streets near the station were lined with businesses, hotels, warehouses, and retail shops. Wholesale grocers sold fresh goods daily before the advent of the modern grocery store. The district had many such grocers, and also wholesalers who sold dry and finished goods. The House of Crane, whose facade remains part of
1829-545: The United States. The original Mississippi Central line was chartered in 1852. Construction of the 255 miles (410 km) 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) gauge line began in 1853 and was completed in 1860, just prior to the Civil War , from Canton, Mississippi to Jackson, Tennessee . The southern terminus of the line connected to the New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern Railroad at Canton. It also connected to
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1888-632: The city, including Indianapolis Union Station and the Majestic Building . Contemporary landmarks in the district include Circle Centre Mall and the Indianapolis Artsgarden . Prior to its designation as a cultural district, the Wholesale District was one of downtown Indianapolis's most decayed and blighted areas. Around the turn of the 20th century, Indianapolis had one of the largest networks of railroads in
1947-702: The company to construct a line from the mouth of the Ohio River to Chicago and on to Galena . Federal support, however, was not approved until 1850, when U.S. President Millard Fillmore signed a land grant for the construction of the railroad. The Illinois Central was the first land-grant railroad in the United States. The Illinois Central was chartered by the Illinois General Assembly on February 10, 1851. Senator Stephen A. Douglas and later President Abraham Lincoln were both Illinois Central men who lobbied for it. Douglas owned land near
2006-496: The departure of the last non-hotel and non-transportation tenant: a Hooters restaurant, which relocated to another nearby downtown building. The September 1995 opening of the Circle Centre Mall , just a block to the north, had drawn off the overwhelming majority of Union Station's retail customers. A planned pedestrian bridge between these two structures had been denied by officials for historic preservation reasons, and
2065-433: The end of 1970, IC operated 6,761 miles of road and 11,159 of track. In 1960, the railroad retired its last steam locomotive, 2-8-2 Mikado #1518. On August 31, 1962, the railroad was incorporated as Illinois Central Industries, Inc. ICI acquired Abex Corporation (formerly American Brake Shoe and Foundry Co.) in 1968. On August 10, 1972, the Illinois Central Railroad merged with the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad to form
2124-592: The facility. The still-successful hotel expanded to take up a larger portion of the building. Additional companies and organizations began to inquire about and lease space in the station. In 2006, tenants included Bands of America , the Consulate of Mexico (which has since relocated elsewhere downtown), the Indiana Museum of African American History , the Japan-America Society of Indiana , and
2183-460: The first union station built. However, Indianapolis's station had more elements of a cooperative union station, especially as the Columbus station had one railroad lease space to another, while the Indianapolis station was a joint effort and ownership agreement. As Indianapolis and its railroad traffic grew, the limitations of the original structure became increasingly obvious. In 1886, Thomas Rodd
2242-425: The former GM&O. Most of these lines were bought by other railroads, including entirely new railroads such as the Chicago, Missouri and Western Railway ; Paducah and Louisville Railway ; Chicago Central and Pacific Railroad ; and MidSouth Rail Corporation . In 1988, the railroad's parent company, IC Industries, spun off its remaining rail assets and changed its name to Whitman Corporation. On February 29, 1988,
2301-488: The former center for wholesale trade. Since 1995, more than $ 686 million has been invested in the area, transforming it into one of the city's largest entertainment and hospitality districts. Recent additions include more than 35 new businesses, Circle Centre , Gainbridge Fieldhouse , The Residences at CityWay, restoration of the Omni Severin Hotel , and a number of upscale restaurants. The area also includes
2360-530: The line operated a service named "The Natchez Route", running trains from Natchez to Mobile, Alabama through trackage agreements with the Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad . At Natchez, freight cars were ferried across the Mississippi River to connect with the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway to institute through traffic into Shreveport, Louisiana . In 1967 the property of the Mississippi Central
2419-714: The main route including The Creole and The Louisiane . The Green Diamond was the Illinois Central's premier train between Chicago, Springfield and St. Louis. Other important trains included the Hawkeye which ran daily between Chicago and Sioux City and the City of Miami eventually running every other day between Chicago and Miami via the Atlantic Coast Line , the Central of Georgia Railroad and Florida East Coast Railway . The Illinois Central
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2478-493: The nearly completed Allegheny County Courthouse designed by Richardson before his death in 1886. Richardson considered the Courthouse his best work. It was highly influential, and Union Station is one of the oldest surviving examples of this style. The three-story Union Station is built of granite and brick trimmed with Hummelstown brownstone. It features a battered water table and massive brick arches characteristic of
2537-466: The newly separated ICG dropped the "Gulf" from its name and again became the Illinois Central Railroad. On February 11, 1998, the IC was purchased for about $ 2.4 billion in cash and shares by Canadian National Railway (CN). Integration of operations began July 1, 1999. Illinois Central was the major carrier of passengers on its Chicago-to-New Orleans mainline and between Chicago and St. Louis. IC also ran passengers on its Chicago-to-Omaha line, though it
2596-489: The newly-expanded Indiana Convention Center (ICC) and nearby Lucas Oil Stadium opened. It also contains a connection to the Crowne Plaza hotel at the west end of Union Station. This climate-controlled pedestrian path replaces an above-ground link between the hotel and the now-demolished RCA Dome , which stood where the new wing of the convention center is now situated. Passenger train service has been very limited in
2655-581: The operation of the train, the Illinois Central combined the Panama Limited with a coach-only train called the Magnolia Star . On May 1, 1971, Amtrak took over intercity rail service. It retained service over the IC mainline, but dropped the Panama Limited in favor of the City of New Orleans. However, since it did not connect with any other trains in either New Orleans or Chicago, Amtrak moved
2714-490: The passing of the "magic carpet" ride of passenger rail service in the United States, which once dominated travel. The IC was one of the oldest Class I railroads in the United States. The company was incorporated by the Illinois General Assembly on January 16, 1836. Within a few months Rep. Zadok Casey (D-Illinois) introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives authorizing a land grant to
2773-452: The present-day shore to the east. Track from Centralia north to Freeport would be abandoned in the 1980s, as traffic to Galena was routed via Chicago. In 1867, the Illinois Central extended its track into Iowa . During the 1870s and 1880s, the IC acquired and expanded railroads in the southern United States. IC lines crisscrossed the state of Mississippi and went as far south as New Orleans, Louisiana , and east to Louisville, Kentucky . In
2832-506: The recently completed Illinois and Michigan Canal . Upon its completion in 1856, the IC was the longest railroad in the world. Its main line went from Cairo, Illinois , at the southern tip of the state, to Galena , in the northwest corner. A branch line went from Centralia (named for the railroad), to the rapidly growing city of Chicago . In Chicago, its tracks were laid along the shore of Lake Michigan and on an offshore causeway downtown, but land-filling and natural deposition have moved
2891-509: The route to an overnight schedule and brought back the Panama Limited name. However, it restored the City of New Orleans name in 1981, while retaining the overnight schedule. This was to capitalize on the popularity of a song about the train written by Steve Goodman and performed by Arlo Guthrie . Willie Nelson 's recording of the song was #1 on the Hot Country Charts in 1984. Illinois Central ran several other trains along
2950-460: The route. Once in operation, the service would require roughly $ 5 million a year in subsidies from the state. On December 10, 2010, IDOT announced the route choice for the resumption of service to begin in 2014 going over mostly CN railway. Presidents of the Illinois Central Railroad have included: Several locomotives and rolling stock formerly owned and used by Illinois Central are preserved, and many of them reside in parks and museums across
3009-569: The strike was effectively over in a few months. The railroads simply hired replacements, among them African-American strikebreakers, and withstood diminishing union pressure. The strike was eventually called off in 1915. The totals above do not include the Waterloo RR, Batesville Southwestern, Peabody Short Line or CofG and its subsidiaries. On December 31, 1925, IC/Y&MV/G&SI operated 6,562 route-miles on 11,030 miles of track; A&V and VS&P added 330 route-miles and 491 track-miles. At
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#17327803317223068-698: The terminal in Chicago. Lincoln was a lawyer for the railroad. Illinois legislators appointed Samuel D. Lockwood , recently retired from the Illinois Supreme Court (who may have given both lawyers the oral examination before admitting them to the Illinois bar), as a trustee on the new railroad's board to guard the public's interest. Lockwood, who would serve more than two decades until his death, had overseen federal land monies shortly after Illinois' statehood, then helped oversee early construction of
3127-563: The train shed structure, and leases out the main concourse, the Grand Hall, for weddings and other events. Wholesale District, Indianapolis The Wholesale District is one of seven designated cultural districts in Indianapolis , Indiana , United States. Located in the south-central quadrant of downtown Indianapolis ' Mile Square, the district contains the greatest concentration of 19th-century commercial buildings in
3186-583: The young city, creating problems for passengers and freight alike. This problem was common to many U.S. cities, but Indianapolis was the first to solve it with a union station, which all railroads were to use. In August 1849, the Union Railway Company was formed, and it began to lay tracks to connect the various railroads. Then in 1853, it built a large brick train shed at the point where all the lines met. Between these dates, nearby Columbus, Ohio had built Columbus Union Station in 1851, becoming
3245-524: Was also a major operator of commuter trains in the Chicago area, operating what eventually became the "IC Electric" line from Randolph Street Terminal in downtown Chicago to the southeast suburbs. In 1987, IC sold this line to Metra , who operates it as the Metra Electric District . It still operates out of what is now Millennium Station , which is still called "Randolph Street Terminal" by many longtime Chicago-area residents. In honor of
3304-426: Was hired. At the time, Rodd was employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad , but did independent civil engineering and architectural projects on the side. The new station was completed in 1888, and during 1889 320,996 passenger train cars (across 45,204 trains) and 861,991 freight cars passed through the station. In 1893, approximately 25,000 passengers rode an average of 120 passenger trains daily. By 1900, over 200 trains
3363-618: Was never among the top performers on this route. Illinois Central's largest passenger terminal, Central Station , stood at 12th Street east of Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Due to the railroad's north–south route from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes, Illinois Central passenger trains were one means of transport during the African American Great Migration of the 1920s. Illinois Central's most famous train
3422-438: Was partially financed through a federal land grant . The Canadian National Railway , via Grand Trunk Corporation , acquired control of the IC in 1998, and absorbed its operations the following year. The Illinois Central Railroad maintains its corporate existence as a non-operating subsidiary. In 1971, Steve Goodman released a folk anthem, " City of New Orleans " about riding on Illinois Central's "Monday-morning rail" train and
3481-399: Was the Panama Limited , a premier all-Pullman car service between Chicago and New Orleans, with a section breaking off at Carbondale to serve St. Louis. In 1949, it added a daytime all-coach companion, the City of New Orleans , which operated with a St. Louis section breaking off at Carbondale and a Louisville section breaking off at Fulton, Kentucky . In 1967, due to losses incurred by
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