Union Station describes two distinct, defunct train stations in

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in some religions * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

. Parts of the latter one were renovated and the building contains offices and restaurants.

Union Station (1847–1887)

The original Union Station was Providence's first, opening in 1848 to accommodate the needs of the newly thriving city. This building was designed by 21 year old Rhode Island architect, Thomas Alexander Tefft in the

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style. Construction of the station was supervised by

Tallman & Bucklin James C. Bucklin (July 26, 1801 – September 28, 1890) was an American architect and builder in practice in Providence, Rhode Island, from 1822 until his death in 1890. A key figure in Rhode Island architecture, Bucklin is best remembe ...

. Extending 720 feet along the edge of Exchange Place, the structure was the largest railroad station in the United States the time of its construction. The building has also been dubbed longest building in the country at the time, though this assertion is disputed. In 1885, ''American Architect and Building News'' voted the building one of the 20 best buildings in the country. 20th century architectural historian

Henry-Russell Hitchcock Henry-Russell Hitchcock (June 3, 1903 – February 19, 1987) was an American architectural historian, and for many years a professor at Smith College and New York University. His writings helped to define the characteristics of modernist architec ...

wrote of the station, "without much question it was the finest early station in the New World." As the city continued to grow, so too did the need for terminal space, ultimately resulting in the paving over of the remnants of the city's inland bay in 1890. The question of what to do with the now undersized station was spontaneously answered on February 21, 1896 when the building suffered a catastrophic fire that effectively gutted the structure. File:Map of the City of Providence, General Railroad Passenger Station.jpg, A drawing of the first Union Station in 1857, ten years after its construction File:City Hall and Union Station in 1885.jpg,

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

and the first Union Station in 1885 File:Providence RI Exchange Place.jpg, An 1886 engraving of Exchange Place. The station is visible to the right of City Hall. File:Providence's Union Station the day after the midnight fire February 21, 1896.jpg, The building immediately following the 1896 fire.

Union Station (1898–1986)

A much larger Union Station was opened in 1898, clad in distinctive yellow brick, which the ''

Providence Journal ''The Providence Journal'', colloquially known as the ''ProJo'', is a daily newspaper serving the metropolitan area of Providence, the largest newspaper in Rhode Island, US. The newspaper was first published in 1829. The newspaper had won four ...

'' heralded as "a new era of history of this city". The station was designed by the firm of

Stone, Carpenter & Willson Stone, Carpenter & Willson was a Providence, Rhode Island–based architectural firm in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. It was named for the partners Alfred Stone (1834–1908), Charles E. Carpenter (1845–1923). and Edmund R. Willson ( ...

, which had also designed other Providence buildings. Though rail use was expected to grow, by the 1980s rail traffic had dropped 75 percent. City planners saw the opportunity to dismantle the "Chinese Wall" of train tracks that hemmed in Providence's central business district and moved

MBTA The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...

and

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 ...

service to a new, smaller Providence station about a half mile north in 1986. File:1150 - Providence, R .I. Union Station.jpg, This c. 1910 postcard shows the second Union Station File:MAIN TERMINAL BUILDING, SOUTH ELEVATION - Providence Union Station, Exchange Terrace, Providence, Providence County, RI HABS RI,4-PROV,177-3.jpg, South elevation of the station in 1982 File:MAIN TERMINAL BUILDING WAITING ROOM, LOOKING WEST - Providence Union Station, Exchange Terrace, Providence, Providence County, RI HABS RI,4-PROV,177-8.jpg, The interior of the station in 1982 File:Providence skyline over Kennedy Plaza.jpg, View over Kennedy Plaza. The old Union Station buildings are visible in the foreground.

Redevelopment (1987–present)

Union Station caught fire in April 1987 amidst $11 million in renovations, forcing a change of plans. Parts of the original station have now been renovated and the building contains offices and restaurants, including the Union Station Brewery. The center-most building of Union Station now houses the Rhode Island Foundation, which leases space to

The Public's Radio The Public's Radio (TPR) is a non-commercial, listener-supported, public radio network that is the NPR member for the state of Rhode Island. It carries news, talk and information programs on several FM frequencies and one AM station. The station ...

, RI Kids Count, and Women's Fund RI. A $23.5-million investment to develop Rhode Island's first food hall in the station was begun in 2022 by a local developer who purchased the building from The Rhode Island Foundation. The 18,000-square-foot food hall is named "Track 15", a reference to the fact that the historic Union Station had 14 tracks. It opened on March 18, 2025.

References

External links

Union Station
, Art In Ruins * * * {{National Register of Historic Places, state=collapsed Railway stations in the United States opened in 1898 Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island Former Amtrak stations in Rhode Island

Former railway stations in Rhode Island Transportation in Providence, Rhode Island Buildings and structures in Providence, Rhode Island Historic American Buildings Survey in Rhode Island National Register of Historic Places in Providence, Rhode Island Historic district contributing properties in Rhode Island Transportation buildings and structures in Providence County, Rhode Island Former Old Colony Railroad stations