Towns and Nature: Wichita, KS: 1914 Union and 1887 Rock Island Depots

Thursday, August 19, 2021

Wichita, KS: 1914 Union and 1887 Rock Island Depots

The good news is that a renovation was completed in 2019. The bad news is that it is closed to the public. After passenger train service terminated in 1979, it set vacant until 1982 when Multimedia Cablevision converted it to office space. But they moved to a bigger space in 2007. [kansas]

The brick building was the Rock Island Depot. There is a display of railroad equipment on the overpass

Street View

ictunionstation

Kansas Historical Society
"The facility built in cooperation with the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, St. Louis-San Francisco Railway [Frisco], and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company. The Wichita Union Terminal Company handled daily operations. The station designed by Kansas City architect Louis Curtiss still stands."
(An interior view)

KSHPO - Kansas State Historic Preservation Office posted four photos with the comment:

WHAT”S WHAT IN TAX CREDITS: NATIONAL TRAIN DAY, MAY 11
All aboard at Wichita Union Station. This two story stone depot illustrates the importance of the railroads in establishing Douglas Avenue as the primary commercial thoroughfare in Wichita. The depot influenced the establishment of businesses that catered to travelers. The “Union” depot was built in order to consolidate traffic that had overtaken East Douglas in the early twentieth century.
The Beaux Arts building was designed by Louis S. Curtiss and is an excellent example of the style which then swept the nation as part of the “City Beautiful” movement. The building and its grounds were designed so as to put Wichita’s “best foot forward” for all visitors to the city. Opening day was March 7, 1914.
Wichita’s Union Station is constructed of concrete, stone and terra cotta. Character-defining features in this building are full-height coupled columns and arched openings between the columns featuring windows extending full height. The verticality of the facade is emphasized by the sashes in the tall windows set between the columns. The metal window frames are noteworthy for their elaborate decoration. The front elevation is strictly symmetrical, and the building is divided into clearly articulated parts. A massive entablature, fully articulated with architrave, frieze and cornice, is executed in the Ionic order. Metal canopies on the front formerly provided support for awnings. A large addition to the south formerly contained baggage and freight rooms. There are large areas of windows with multiple vertical sashes immediately south of the main wing, and the building becomes more utilitarian in its design towards the rear [S]. There is a brick drive in front of the building.
A substantial Tax Credit project in 2019 rehabilitated exteriors and interior of the main terminal and freight buildings in 4 phases.
Learn more about this historic building in the Kansas Historic Resources Inventory: khri.kansasgis.org/index.cfm?in=173-5880-08224

David Detjen shared with the comment: "Wichita Union Station in Kansas."

This depot replaced the earlier Santa Fe depot, which served its first train on May 16, 1872. [TripAdvisor]

occmgmt

ictunionstation

The outside display is part of the Great Plains Transportation Museum.

VisitWichita

At the top-right corner of this map excerpt, the Santa Fe was on the left, the Rock Island was in the middle and the Frisco was on the right. The "PACIFIC" in the left middle was the Missouri Pacific. That route is now abandoned. I presume the vertical rectangle where City Hall Parking stands now was the MoPac depot. Wichata Street is where the tracks used to run.

1956 Wichita East Quadrangle @ 1:24,000

Lon Smith posted 15 photos with the comment: "Old Union Station in downtown Wichita, Ks, recently restored for mixed office/retail. It's becoming quite a hot spot again, which is nice. Also a couple of photos of the outdoor displays at the adjacent transportation museum."