Tacoma Union Station | Illustration
Tacoma Union Station
1717 Pacific Avenue
Tacoma, Washington 98402
Tacoma contains many great historical buildings inside its borders and Tacoma’s Union station is one of its biggest and historically important structures still in use today. Commissioned by the railroads and designed by the architectural firm Reed & Stem, it was completed in 1911 with a footprint spanning more than 49,000 square feet. [over 50% larger than Seattle’s Union Station.]
At the turn of the century, the railroad companies were hard at work building routes and stations all over the U.S. and Tacoma was chosen as the new passenger railway hub of the Northwest. Known as the ‘City of Destiny’ Tacoma lived up to its reputation for a time, boasting 28 trains leaving its station daily in the 1930s. This boom was short lived unfortunately as the automobile began to dominate the transportation industry, eventually bringing ridership to a halt. Its last train left the stations concourse on June 14, 1984 and shortly thereafter the building was abandoned and began to fall into disrepair. In 1987 Congress stepped in restored the building for use by the United States Federal Courts. It now houses 10 courtrooms and multiple offices for other government agencies.
Although this is a great re-use of a historical landmark, I can’t help but think of what this place once was, and what it could be today. What served as the gateway to the city is now just another old building, its significance lost to time and four wheels. Ironically, the site where the station’s concourse once stood is now an interstate, fully cementing the autos victory over its rails.