St. Louis Union Station

St. Louis Union Station
Company type	Redeveloped historic site / Hotel and entertainment complex
Industry	Hospitality, Retail, Entertainment
Founded	September 1, 1894; 132 years ago in St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Founder	Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis
Headquarters	St. Louis, United States
Products	Hotel, retail shops, dining, entertainment venues, aquarium, observation wheel
Website	stlouisunionstation.com

St. Louis Union Station is a National Historic Landmark located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, formerly serving as a major railway terminal. When it opened in 1894, it was the largest train station worldwide, accommodating as many as 100,000 travelers daily during its peak in the 1940s. The final passenger train operated by Amtrak departed in 1978.

During the 1980s, the station underwent redevelopment into a combined hotel, retail space, and entertainment hub. Subsequent renovations throughout the 2010s and 2020s further enhanced its entertainment facilities and office areas. The hotel within the complex is recognized by Historic Hotels of America, an official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Next to the station is the Union Station (MetroLink) stop, serving the Red and Blue lines of MetroLink light rail that run beneath the building. Approximately one mile south lies St. Louis’s Gateway Transportation Center, which offers intercity connections via MetroLink, Amtrak, and Greyhound Bus services.

19th century

Union Station officially opened on September 1, 1894, developed by the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis. Designed by architect Theodore Link, it featured three primary sections: the Headhouse, Midway, and a Train Shed engineered by George H. Pegram. The headhouse housed a hotel, dining facilities, waiting areas, and ticket counters, highlighted by an opulent Grand Hall adorned with gold leaf, Romanesque arches, a barrel-vaulted ceiling, and stained-glass windows. The station’s clock tower remains an iconic feature.

Built from Indiana limestone, the headhouse and midway originally accommodated 32 tracks beneath an expansive trainshed that ended in a stub-end terminal configuration. The Grand Hall, costing roughly $6.5 million to construct and measuring approximately , was celebrated as one of the most magnificent public spaces of its era.

At its inauguration, Union Station held the distinction of being both the largest and busiest railroad terminal globally, possessing the widest roof span at that time.

20th century

In preparation for the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, the station was expanded in 1903 to manage increased visitor traffic. It maintained its status as the largest railroad terminal in America well into the 1920s.

At its height, Union Station served passenger operations for 22 different railroads—the highest number for any U.S. terminal—and processed up to 100,000 passengers daily during the 1940s. During World War II, it gained brief attention when German prisoner of war Til Kiwe was recaptured there after escaping from a camp in Colorado.

A mid-century expansion introduced a semicircular ticket counter and featured a mural by artist Louis Grell illustrating St. Louis’s history with imagery of steam locomotives and riverboats. The station was also famously captured in a photograph showing President Harry S. Truman holding up the incorrect "Dewey Defeats Truman" newspaper headline following the 1948 election.

With air travel becoming predominant mid-century, rail passenger traffic declined substantially. By 1961, some station tracks were repurposed for parking use. Although Amtrak assumed control of passenger services in 1971, it discontinued operations at Union Station on October 31, 1978, due to significantly reduced train schedules—only eight daily trains remained across four routes at that time. Passenger service was relocated to a smaller nearby facility; currently, Amtrak operates out of Gateway Transportation Center one block east.

Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970 for its architectural importance and named a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1981, Union Station underwent substantial redevelopment.

In August 1985, following a $150 million renovation led by Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum, Union Station reopened featuring a hotel with 539 rooms alongside retail shops, dining establishments, and entertainment venues. This adaptive reuse project utilized federal historic rehabilitation tax incentives and became one of St. Louis’s premier attractions as well as one of the largest such conversions nationally. The hotel occupies both the headhouse and part of the train shed; over time it has been managed by operators including Omni Hotels, Hyatt Regency, and Marriott Hotels.

21st century

Between 2010 and 2011, the Marriott Hotel at the station expanded its footprint into the Midway area, relocating retail outlets to the arcade within the train shed. In 2012, ownership transferred to Lodging Hospitality Management, who rebranded the hotel as a DoubleTree. By August 2016, the company revealed plans for additional upgrades, including the introduction of an aquarium. The Memories Museum, situated on the upper level of the train shed, presents the rich rail heritage of St. Louis Union Station in collaboration with the National Museum of Transportation. Original architectural blueprints are preserved at Washington University in St. Louis. Architectural components removed during renovation efforts were safeguarded at the National Building Arts Center located in Sauget, Illinois.

Up until 2017, Union Station annually hosted the World Championship segment of the FIRST Tech Challenge as part of the FIRST Championship, before the event relocated to Detroit.

Within the train shed, visitors can experience The St. Louis Wheel, a towering observation wheel equipped with 42 gondolas, alongside The St. Louis Rope Course, a three-level indoor ropes and zip line adventure. Additionally, two light displays are featured: one illuminating the train shed and another showcased inside the hotel lobby.

In January 2020, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. moved its global headquarters downtown to St. Louis, occupying space in the Grand Central Building within Union Station’s complex. The company also launched a flagship retail store and operates a Build-A-Bear Radio studio along with interactive experience zones at this location. That year marked further enhancements including a Ferris wheel installation, an aquarium opening, and several new dining venues.

The St. Louis Aquarium debuted in 2020 within what was formerly mall space, covering an area of and exhibiting over 13,000 animals representing more than 250 species.

MetroLink

Union Station is served by MetroLink, the metropolitan light rail network, through both the Red and Blue routes. The station resides beneath the train shed inside the historic Union Station Baggage Tunnel, originally constructed in the 1890s to facilitate baggage movement. This tunnel was repurposed for MetroLink operations in 1993 and has since undergone renovations in 2010 and 2016, with a significant upgrade scheduled for 2025.

Traveling via the Red Line to either terminal at St. Louis Lambert International Airport takes roughly 30 minutes.

Gateway Transportation Station

Located just two blocks away from Union Station, the Gateway Multimodal Transportation Center functions as a major transit hub providing access to MetroLink services, local bus routes, and national transportation options including Amtrak trains and Greyhound buses.

Taxi and rideshare

At its north entrance on Market Street, Union Station offers round-the-clock taxi services for convenient passenger pickup and drop-off.

Filming

In 1981, when Union Station was no longer in active use, it served as a filming location for scenes in John Carpenter's movie Escape from New York, featuring shots captured within both the train shed and Grand Hall.

Additional resources

Montesi, Albert and Richard Deposki, St. Louis Union Station, Arcadia Publishing, 2002
Missouri Department of Natural Resources, National Register of Historic Places: Inventory – Nomination Form
The St. Louis Union Station: a monograph by the architect and officers of the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, St. Louis Union Station

External links

Official site: stlouisunionstation.com