The Fort Street Union Depot was a passenger train station located at the southwest corner of West Fort Street and Third Street in downtown

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. It served the city from 1893 to 1971, then was demolished in 1974. Today, the downtown campus of Wayne County Community College occupies the site.

History

The

union station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

began construction in 1891 and opened to the public January 21, 1893. It consolidated the operations and services of several rail companies serving Detroit like Baltimore and Ohio, Pere Marquette (later Chesapeake and Ohio), Pennsylvania, and Wabash. It was not utilised by

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected New York metropolitan area, gr ...

and

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

, which used

Michigan Central Station Michigan Central Station (MCS, also known as Michigan Central Depot) is the historic former main intercity passenger rail station in Detroit, Michigan. Built for the Michigan Central Railroad, it replaced the original depot in downtown Detro ...

, and the

Grand Trunk Western Railroad The Grand Trunk Western Railroad Company was an American subsidiary of the Grand Trunk Railway, later of the Canadian National Railway operating in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Since a corporate restructuring in 1971, the railroad ha ...

, which used

Brush Street Station Brush Street Station was a passenger train station on the eastside of downtown Detroit, Michigan, located at the foot of Brush Street at its intersection with Atwater Street and bordered by the Detroit River to the south. History The original ...

. The

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 until 1987, when it was merged into the Chessie ...

used the Fort Street facility intermittently. B&O never had its own tracks between Toledo and Detroit. When Pere Marquette (then later C&O which had acquired PM) handled B&O trains north of Toledo, those trains went to Fort Street. When handled by Michigan Central (later New York Central) they went to Michigan Central Station. Upon its opening, the station was located in a transportation district which included the original Michigan Central Railroad Depot two blocks south, and the

Detroit and Cleveland Navigation Company Detroit and Cleveland Navigation Company, often abbreviated as D&C, was a shipping company on the Great Lakes. Operations The main route was between Detroit, Michigan, and Cleveland, Ohio. Routes also lead to Buffalo, New York with the purchase ...

nearby on the Detroit River. The station was extensively renovated in 1946, adding a restaurant, fluorescent lighting, a baggage room, train gates and other updated amenities.

Urban renewal Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

in the 1950s saw the construction of

Cobo Hall Huntington Place (formerly known as Cobo Hall, Cobo Center, and briefly TCF Center) is a convention center in Downtown Detroit, owned by the Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority (DRCFA) and operated by ASM Global. Located at 1 Washi ...

to the south of the station, and the tunneling of the

Lodge Freeway M-10 is a state trunkline highway in the Metro Detroit area of Michigan in the United States. Nominally labeled north-south, the route follows a northwest-southeast alignment. The southernmost portion follows Jefferson Avenue in downtown ...

beneath the railway tracks. However, due to dwindling ridership, and with the founding of

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 ...

, the station closed April 30, 1971, and despite the attempts of preservationists to repurpose the building, was demolished in January 1974.

Architecture

The depot was built in the

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

architectural style by architect James Stewart, a follower of

Henry Hobson Richardson Henry Hobson Richardson, FAIA (September 29, 1838 – April 27, 1886) was an American architect, best known for his work in a style that became known as Richardsonian Romanesque. Along with Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, Richardson is one ...

. "The depot was described by architectural critics as monumental and gutsy, and of being in a solid, aggressive style. W. Hawkins Ferry, in his ''The Buildings of Detroit,'' described the station as being of 'robust plastic composition'. Ross and Carlin mention it proudly as 'an ornament to the city' in their ''Landmarks of Detroit'', published before the turn of the century."

Service

Several named passenger trains departed from the station; many were long-distance flagship trains of their respective railroads. The Pere Marquette had unnamed service to Bay City via

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

and

Saginaw Saginaw () is a city in Saginaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 44,202 at the 2020 census. Located along the Saginaw River, Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of ...

Remnants

Parts of the structure are housed at the

B&O Railroad Museum The B&O Railroad Museum is a museum and historic railway station exhibiting historic railroad equipment in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) company originally opened the museum on July 4, 1953, with the name of the Balt ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

. Several large pieces from the station have been saved in a warehouse in nearby

Fort Wayne Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 United S ...

Notes

References

{{reflist

External links

Historic Detroit: Article on the terminal, including photo
Former railway stations in Michigan Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in Michigan Former Chesapeake and Ohio Railway stations Demolished buildings and structures in Detroit Demolished railway stations in the United States Former Wabash Railroad stations Railway stations in Detroit Railway stations in the United States opened in 1893

Buildings and structures demolished in 1974 Railway stations in the United States closed in 1971