Union Station postcard, circa 1920. Source: Special Collections, Chicago Postcard Collection, box 4, item 1.1682.
New Union Station Chicago brochure, 1930s. Source: Special Collections, West Side Community Collection, box 18, folder 8.
Postcard of Union Station, circa 1925. Source: Special Collections, Chicago Postcard Collection, box 2, item 1.802.
Union Station postcard, circa 1925. Source: Special Collections, Chicago Postcard Collection, box 2, item 1.803.The Fred Harvey lunchroom and restaurant was a highlight of the new 1925 Union Station.
Postcard of Union Station’s USO Lounge and Servicemen’s Canteen, circa 1940-1945. Source: Special Collections, Chicago Postcard Collection.
Union Station, a Chicago landmark, opened 100 years ago on May 16, 2025. Let's take a moment to celebrate the building's history.
The centralized terminal was part of architect Daniel Burnham’s 1909 Plan of Chicago. Burnham died in 1912 and the next year construction began on his designs under the firm Graham, Burnham and Company (later, known as Graham, Anderson, Probst and White). The station opened after more than a decade of construction at a cost of $75 million.
The station was built by a "union" of four railroads to accommodate the growing demand for passenger rail to and from Chicago. Construction included not only the station itself, but also the rail yards coming into the station and the many blocks of viaducts and bridges necessary to separate trains from other traffic. Unlike earlier terminals, its entrances accommodated car traffic (the Ford Model T had launched production in 1908) with places for drivers to pull up curbside.
Its awe-inspiring looks are the result of sweeping limestone exteriors (quarried in Bedford, Indiana) and larger-than-life ornate interiors. The building's grandeur is best experienced in the Great Hall, the station's main waiting room spanned by a 219-foot-long, barrel-vaulted skylight that soars 115 feet over the room. The Chicago Tribune wrote: “In respect to both architecture and utility, the new station is one of the most impressive in the world.” At the time of its opening, the station also housed a hospital, a chapel, and a jail cell.
Want to learn more about Union Station? The library offers a range of reports and histories of the building. Researchers may also view the library's collection of historic Chicago newspapers that have been reporting on Union Station for over a century.
Numerous movies have been filmed in Union Station throughout the years and are an entertaining way to see how the building has changed. Here are a list of my favorites: The Sting (1973), The Blues Brothers (1980), The Untouchables (1987), My Best Friend's Wedding (1997) and Flags of Our Fathers (2006).
Any questions? Contact Special Collections and expand your knowledge of our city's history.
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