Cleveland Union Depot
Union Depot | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Union Depot c. 1867 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
General information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 41°30′09″N 81°42′06″W / 41.502403°N 81.701568°W | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Key dates | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opened | 1853 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rebuilt | 1866 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Closed | September 26, 1953[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Demolished | 1959 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former services | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Union Depot was the name given to two intercity railroad stations in
Services
- Cleveland and Toledo Railroad(1853–1869)
- Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad (1853–1868)
- Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad / Lake Shore Railway (1853–1869)
- Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad (1853–1871)
- Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway (1868–1889)
- Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway(1869–1914)
- Pennsylvania Company (1871–1918)
- Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway (1889–1930)
- New York Central(1914–1930)
- Pennsylvania Railroad (1918–1953)
History
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Ceremonies_-_Demobilization_-_NARA_-_23922447_-_cropped.jpg/300px-Ceremonies_-_Demobilization_-_NARA_-_23922447_-_cropped.jpg)
Before 1853, the railroads serving the city each maintained its own small depot. The first union depot cost $75,000 (equivalent to $2.75 million in 2023), and consisted of a group of wooden sheds centrally located at the foot of the hill where Bank (current-day West 6th) and Water (current-day West 9th) Streets met the lake shore. This depot was built from 1851 to 1853, and partially burned in 1864. The remaining structures were retained for housing, cleaning, and repairing train cars, and a replacement station was constructed of masonry nearby. It opened in 1866, with a final cost of $475,000 (equivalent to $9.88 million in 2023), and was dedicated on November 10 of that year.[2][3][4] The opening was celebrated with a banquet for 300 in the station's dining hall. In 1867, the depot's tower was constructed.[5]
During the Civil War, the station was utilized to transport thousands of soldiers to training camps. Additionally, in December 1863, the Cleveland's Soldiers Aid Society constructed the Soldier's Home, a shelter and relief center offering food, clothing, shelter, and medical care to soldiers.[6] U.S. President Abraham Lincoln used the terminal in departing Cleveland during his first inaugural tour throughout the country, on his way to Washington, D. C.[7] After the war, the station was used to carry Lincoln's body on his funeral train to Springfield, Illinois.[8]
By the 1890s, Union Depot was too small for the number of trains and people coming into Cleveland daily, and as it deteriorated and accumulated soot and ash, it became an embarrassment to many citizens. Plans for another depot, part of Cleveland's
The
Attributes
The station was constructed along Cleveland's lake front with Lake Erie, between modern-day 6th and 9th Streets, close to the current Amtrak station.[4]
The 1866 depot was designed and constructed by industrialist and railroad director
See also
References
- Cleveland Plain Dealer. 27 September 1953.
- ^ ISBN 9781439644881– via Google Books.
- ^ a b c "UNION DEPOT". Encyclopedia of Cleveland History | Case Western Reserve University. May 22, 2018.
- ^ a b c "Cleveland, OH (CLE)".
- ^ ISBN 9780873384285– via Google Books.
- ^ a b Muskin, Adena. "Union Depot". Cleveland Historical.
- ^ a b "Amasa Stone". Magazine of Western History: 109. December 1885. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
- ^ "The Funeral Path of President Lincoln". Cleveland Historical.
- ISBN 9780738551159– via Google Books.