Memphis Central Station, referred to as Grand Central Station prior to 1944, is a passenger terminal in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. Located along Main Street and G.E. Patterson Boulevard in

Downtown Memphis Downtown Memphis is the central business district of Memphis, Tennessee, and is located along the Mississippi River between Interstate 40 to the north, Interstate 55 to the south, and Interstate 240 (Tennessee), Interstate 240 to the east, where ...

, it currently a service stop for

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

's '' City of New Orleans'' route, arriving in late evening northbound and in the morning southbound. It is also served by the MATA Trolley system. The building was opened in 1914, and is located within the city's South Main Arts District. It is also a contributing property to the South Main Street Historic District of the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

, as are the National Civil Rights Museum and other historic properties within the district boundaries.

History

Early history

Central Station was built on the site of a former station known as Calhoun Street Station. Both stations were owned by the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the Central United States. Its primary routes connected Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, and thus, ...

or its predecessors. Construction of Memphis Central Station began in September 1912, and the station was opened for service on October 4, 1914. The track design included five stub-end tracks (station tracks 1-5), and five through tracks (station tracks 6-10). The station was also used by

Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad The Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad (Y&MV) was incorporated in 1882 and was part of the Illinois Central Railroad system (IC). Construction began in Jackson, Mississippi, and continued to Yazoo City, Mississippi. The line was later expand ...

, St. Louis-San Francisco Railway, (also known as the Frisco) and Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway (also known as Rock Island Railroad). Between April 1, 1964, and November 30, 1966, the

Louisville and Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of ...

was also a tenant, during the time that Memphis Union Station was closed. ''Lavender v. Kurn'', 327 U.S. 645 (1946) was a case decided by the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

dealing with a

negligent Negligence ( Lat. ''negligentia'') is a failure to exercise appropriate care expected to be exercised in similar circumstances. Within the scope of tort law, negligence pertains to harm caused by the violation of a duty of care through a negl ...

wrongful death Wrongful death is a type of legal claim or cause of action against a person who can be held liable for a death. The claim is brought in a civil action, usually by close relatives, as authorized by statute. In wrongful death cases, survivors are ...

case brought by the estate of an Illinois Central employee, a switchtender at Broadway Crossing. In December 1939, the switchtender had lined Frisco train #106 to back into Central Station. After the train passed, the switchtender was found fatally injured, although the cause could not with certainty be determined to be accidental from being hit by a RPO mail hook or being murdered by a hobo in the area. The relatives of the switchtender sued for negligence under the

Federal Employers Liability Act The Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA), 45 U.S.C. § 51 et seq. (1908), is a United States federal law that protects and compensates railroaders injured on the job. Background In the years between 1889 and 1920, railroad use in the U.S. ex ...

and the Supreme Court upheld the claim.

Decline and renovation

Like other large stations across America, the rapid decline of the passenger train network after World War II made Memphis Central Station an aging, nearly deserted monument to an earlier era. Rock Island passenger train service to Memphis ended in November 1967, and Frisco train service ended a month later, leaving Illinois Central as the sole occupant of the station. With the permanent closure of Union Station in 1968, Central Station became the sole intercity station in Memphis. On May 1, 1971, Amtrak took over nearly all passenger trains in the United States. Amtrak cut back service to a single train, the ''City of New Orleans,'' and large sections of Central Station were closed off and abandoned. Illinois Central offices were moved from the station, and it appeared that the station would eventually be razed, facing the same fate as Union Station. The station's upkeep deteriorated to an extent that for much of time from the 1970s to the mid-1990s, it had a reputation as one of the worst stations on the Amtrak system. In 1998 the property was acquired by Memphis Area Transit Authority, which undertook a $23.2 million renovation project. Much of the former waiting area would become a public meeting area, the Illinois Central office space on upper floors was converted to condominiums, and Amtrak retained a smaller presence in the former midway area of the station. The station renovation, which was completed in November 1999, helped to speed the renovation and redevelopment of this once deserted area of downtown Memphis.

Role during Hurricane Gustav (2008) evacuations

In anticipation of the landfall of

Hurricane Gustav Hurricane Gustav () was the second most destructive tropical cyclone of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. The seventh tropical cyclone, third hurricane, and second major hurricane of the season, Gustav caused serious damage and Casualty (per ...

, the city of

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

began evacuating residents without the means to leave the city, starting on August 30, 2008. One thousand twenty-four evacuees arrived in Memphis via Amtrak. Memphis Central Platform

Today

In 2019 the station underwent a major $55 million remodel that included a new Amtrak ticket office and waiting area. A new luxury hotel was opened in the station: Central Station Hotel, Curio by Hilton. The hotel includes a refurbished ballroom, two restaurants and a bar. The MATA Trolley Main Street Line

heritage streetcar Heritage streetcars or heritage trams are a part of the efforts to preserve rail transit heritage. In addition to preserving street-running rail vehicles, heritage streetcar operations can include upkeep of historic rail infrastructure. Working ...

was extended to Central Station in 2021. The station continues to be served by the ''City of New Orleans,'' which has called here since the train's inception in 1949. It previously served the train's nighttime counterpart, the famed ''

Panama Limited The ''Panama Limited'' was a passenger train operated from 1911 to 1971 between Chicago, Illinois, and New Orleans, Louisiana. The flagship train of the Illinois Central Railroad, it took its name from the Panama Canal, which in 1911 was three y ...

.'' Presently, this is one of only two Amtrak stations in Tennessee, the other being the Newbern Depot. It is the only Amtrak station in the state with full service; Newbern is a

flag stop In public transport, a request stop, flag stop, or whistle stop is a bus stop, stop or train station, station at which buses or trains, respectively, stop only on request; that is, only if there are passengers or freight to be picked up or drop ...

Named trains serving Memphis Central Station

A partial list of named trains in the pre-Amtrak period that served Central Station: * Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway (Rock Island) **'' Choctaw Rocket'' **''Cherokee'' **''Hot Springs Special'' **''Memphis Californian'' **''Southwest Express'' *

**''

'' **'' City of New Orleans'' **''Delta Express'' **''Irvin S. Cobb'' **''Louisiane'' **''Northern Express''/''Southern Express'' *

(since 1964) **'' Pan-American'' * Southern Railway (since 1964) **'' Tennessean'' * St. Louis-San Francisco Railway (Frisco) **''Memphian'' **'' Kansas City-Florida Special'' **''Sunnyland'' *

(in latter years, absorbed into Illinois Central) **''Delta Express'' **''Planter''

References

External links

Condren, Mike. "Memphis Central Station," ''Memphis Historical Railroad Pages''Parker, Tom. "IC-Memphis Central Station," ''Illinois Central Net''Article from ''Railway Age Gazette'' (1915)
{{Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis Amtrak stations in Tennessee Memphis Memphis Memphis National Register of Historic Places in Memphis, Tennessee Railway stations in Tennessee Memphis Area Transit Authority Railway stations in the United States opened in 1914 Memphis Historic district contributing properties in Tennessee 1914 establishments in Tennessee