King Street Station
King Street Station Seattle, WA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Northwestern Trailways, Travel Washington | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Connections | Light rail: (transfer at International District/Chinatown) Streetcar: King County Metro, Sound Transit Express, Community Transit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Structure type | At-grade | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parking | Paid parking nearby | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Accessible | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Station code | Amtrak: SEA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opened | May 10, 1906 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rebuilt | 2008–2013 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Passengers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FY 2022 | 384,726[1] (Amtrak only) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Services | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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King Street Station | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Location | 3rd Ave. S. and S. King St. Seattle, Washington | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Built | 1906 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Architect | Reed and Stem | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NRHP reference No. | 73001877 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Added to NRHP | April 13, 1973 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Location | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
King Street Station is a
Opened on May 10, 1906, it served as a union station for the Great Northern Railway and the Northern Pacific Railway, both owned by James J. Hill. The station was designed by Reed and Stem and incorporated elements from various architectural styles, including a prominent clocktower inspired by St. Mark's Campanile in Venice. A second city terminal, Union Station, was built one block to the east and opened in 1911. As passenger train service declined in the mid-20th century, King Street Station fell into disrepair and was renovated several times to conceal interior elements in the name of modernization. It was selected as Amtrak's sole Seattle station in 1971 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places two years later. Commuter rail service began in 2000 from a new platform and pedestrian bridge at South Weller Street. King Street Station was acquired by Seattle's city government in 2008 and renovated in 2013 at a cost of $55 million, restoring its original fixtures.[2]
The current station consists of ten tracks and four platforms, including one that is used by Sounder commuter trains and connected via a
History
Built between 1904 and 1906 by the
After the end of
The dedicated women's waiting room at the southwest corner of the building was converted into employee offices; its own architectural details suffering the same damage. The only original remaining features left visible in the main waiting area were the terrazzo tile floor and the clock on the west wall above the restrooms.Despite the attempted modernization, the station continued to deteriorate. Following the creation of Amtrak in 1971 to take over the money-losing passenger service from the railroad companies, hundreds of routes were eliminated and service across the country was cut in half.[10] Amtrak consolidated all of its Seattle service at King Street Station, resulting in the closure of Union Station, which formerly served Union Pacific (the Milwaukee Road had moved out a decade earlier). To further cut costs the station's restaurant, lunch counter, and gift shop were immediately closed and vending machines installed.[11] Eventually even the escalators stopped running and without the funds or passenger volume to justify repairing them, were permanently walled off.
Today, the station has been fully restored and is part of a group of transportation facilities in the southern portion of Downtown Seattle. King Street Station is located a block away from the
Restoration
Plans to restore the entire building to its former prominence, including cosmetic renovations to both the station interior and exterior, began in 2003. As part of these renovations the Compass Room and restrooms were refurbished, and the exterior awnings were replaced. New mahogany entry doors and wood framed windows were installed in the waiting room and Compass Room. New brass door hardware and reproduction period light fixtures and plaster decorative work were included to reproduce the former character of the station's interior.[12]
In November 2006, the Office of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels announced a preliminary agreement between the City of Seattle and BNSF Railway to purchase the station for $1. The Seattle City Council formalized the agreement by passing legislation in December 2006.[13] The deal, revised to $10, was signed March 5, 2008.[14] The purchase by the city freed up US$19 million of state and federal funds that was used for further restoration of the station. The city earmarked a further US$10 million for the restoration as part of a passed local transportation levy.[15]
In 2008, the clocks in the clock tower were repaired,[16] and the old radio microwave antennas were removed.[17] Repair work to the exterior continued as of June 2010.[18]
Phase two of the project began in May 2010, when demolition work commenced on the second and third floors, previously used by Burlington Northern for division offices. Work on modernizing the baggage area, originally used as a restaurant, were also undertaken during this time. During June 2010, work also began on demolition of a 1950s addition to the building that housed the escalators and part of the Jackson Street Plaza. Demolition work was completed by September 2010.
In October 2010, the King Street Station project was awarded $18.2 million from $2.4 billion in high-speed
Architecture
King Street Station is a red brick masonry and
Inside the main entry, at the base of the clock tower, is the entry hall, known as the Compass Room. The name references the navigational star
Services
Currently King St. Station has 25 daily train departures:
- Thirteen Sounder Line S commuter rail trains south to Tacoma with eight trains continuing south to Lakewood (weekdays only)
- Four Sounder Line N commuter rail trains north to Everett (weekdays only)
- Two Amtrak Cascades regional trains north to Vancouver, BC
- Four Amtrak Eugene, OR
- One Amtrak Chicago, IL
- One Amtrak Coast Starlight long-distance train south to Los Angeles, CA
From 2014 to 2019, Rocky Mountaineer operated excursion trains on its Coastal Passage service between Seattle and Banff, Alberta.[24][25]
Amtrak boardings and alightings
Year | 2011[26] | 2012[27] | 2013[28] | 2014[29] | 2015[30] | 2016[31] | 2017[32] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 672,485 | 672,351 | 640,054 | 626,623 | 604,832 | 649,491 | 667,475 |
YOY difference | — | -134 | -32,297 | -13,431 | -21,791 | 44,659 | 17,984 |
YOY difference % | — | -0.02% | -4.80% | -2.10% | -3.48% | 7.38% | 2.77% |
Gallery
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View of suspended ceiling, now removed
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King Street Station and Union Station, 1913
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A Sounder train at the station
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An Amtrak Cascades train in King Street Station
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King Street Station rehab
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Remodeled interior of King Street Station
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View of the platforms from the southwest
Nearby places
- Pioneer Square National Historic District
- Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park
- International District
- Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel
- Lumen Field (formerly CenturyLink Field)
- T-Mobile Park (formerly Safeco Field)
- Union Station
- International District/Chinatown station
References
- ^ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2022: State of Washington" (PDF). Amtrak. June 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
- ^ "King Street Station awarded $18.2 million". www.thenewpioneersquare.com. The New Pioneer Square. November 2, 2010. Archived from the original on March 23, 2016. Retrieved November 9, 2010.
- ISBN 0-295-97535-0.
- ^ "King Street Station--Seattle, Washington: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary". www.nps.gov. National Park Service. Retrieved August 12, 2007.
- ^ a b Corley, Margaret A. (March 1973). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory -- Nomination Form" (PDF). National Park Service, Department of Interior. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 10, 2008. Retrieved August 27, 2008.
- ^ "Union Station Clock is Second in Size". The Seattle Times. May 6, 1906. p. 13.
- ^ "Travelers' Aid". The Seattle Times. February 16, 1950.
- ^ "New Look". The Seattle Times. January 30, 1958.
- ^ "King St. Station Receives Face-Lift Over Two Years". The Seattle Times. August 27, 1967.
- ^ Barr, Robert (April 30, 1971). "No Reason Passenger Trains Can't Be Added - If Plan Works". The Seattle Times.
- ^ Duncan, Don (December 15, 1971). "Down at the Depot, Waitin'...". The Seattle Times.
- ^ a b "Great American Stations: Seattle, WA (SEA)". greatamericanstations.com. Amtrak. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
- ^ "Seattle City Ordinance, No. 122312". Office of City Clerk, City of Seattle. December 11, 2006. Retrieved February 2, 2007.
- ^ Lindblom, Mike (March 5, 2008). "New round of fixes for King Street Station". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on June 18, 2008. Retrieved November 11, 2008.
- ^ Young, Bob (November 21, 2006). "$1 deal struck for King Street Station". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on February 26, 2007. Retrieved February 2, 2007.
- ^ Murakami, Kery (October 28, 2008). "No Parking Anytime: Time no longer frozen on King Street Station clocks". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved November 11, 2008.
- ^ "Antenna Mast Removed from Historic King Street Station" (Press release). City of Seattle. October 21, 2008. Archived from the original on May 29, 2010. Retrieved November 11, 2008.
- ^ Bundridge, Brian (March 4, 2009). "King Street Station Updates". seattletransitblog.com. Seattle Transit Blog. Retrieved March 5, 2009.
- ^ a b "King Street Station: 3rd floor walls demolition". Seattle Department of Transportation. June 14, 2010. Retrieved June 14, 2010.
- ^ Erb, George (July 13, 2010). "Seattle's King Street Station re-emerges". Puget Sound Business Journal. Retrieved November 9, 2010.
- ^ Haeck, Tim (October 28, 2010). "Feds chip in millions for King Street Station face lift". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on October 30, 2010. Retrieved November 9, 2010.
- ^ "Seattle's historic King St. Station restoration nearly complete". KING-TV. Seattle. April 16, 2013. Archived from the original on April 27, 2013. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
- ^ MacIntosh, Heather. "Seattle's King Street Station opens on May 10, 1906". HistoryLink. Retrieved November 8, 2010.
- ^ Clark, Jayne (June 6, 2014). "This train ride soars to new heights". USA Today. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
- ^ Potestio, Michael (July 28, 2020). "Rocky Mountaineer's cancelled season leaves hole in Kamloops' tourism sector". Kamloops This Week. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
- ^ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2011: State of Washington" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2011. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 30, 2013. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
- ^ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2012: State of Washington" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2012. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 7, 2014. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
- ^ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2013: State of Washington" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2013. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 26, 2015. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
- ^ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2014: State of Washington" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2014. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 10, 2015. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
- ^ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2015: State of Washington" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2015. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 19, 2016. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
- ^ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2016, State of Washington" (PDF). amtrak.com. Amtrak. November 2016. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
- ^ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2017, State of Washington" (PDF). amtrak.com. Amtrak. November 2017. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
External links
- Seattle, WA – Amtrak
- Seattle, WA – Station history at Great American Stations (Amtrak)
- King Street Station (National Register of Historic Places) Archived December 28, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- King Street Station (City of Seattle, Department of Transportation)
- King Street Station (Sound Transit)
- King Street Station (Washington State Department of Transportation) Archived October 24, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
- Article from Railroad Gazette (1904) showing original floor plan