Union Station St. Louis

My friend Emily from Emily Rose Studios and I decided to visit Union Station in St. Louis.  It was new for me but Emily had been there on several other occasions.  It is also the home of Shutterfest, an annual photography conference, which I am hoping to attend this year. As we walked through the station and the hotel, I was in awe of the beautiful attention to detail in the architecture.  The Grand Hall was breathtaking with it’s “terrazzo floor, green glazed terra-cotta bricks, stained glass windows and wooden carpentry” details.  My favorite picture is of the stained glass window which depicts 3 women representing “train travel in the 1890’s from New York to San Francisco with St. Louis in the middle”.  Union Station saw it’s first train pulling in on September 2, 1894. It wasn’t long before it became one of the largest and busiest passenger rail station of the world.  It wasn’t unusual for this station to move more than 100,000 people through it’s doors.  President Harry Truman, Joe DiMaggio, Joan Crawford and the St. Louis baseball teams the Browns and the Cardinals were amongst some of the visitors.  The Grand Hall, with it’s 65-foot barrel vaulted ceiling, was the main waiting room.  A 75-room hotel, just off the Grand Hall, was a resting place for tired travelers. Union Station saw it’s final passenger train departing on October 31, 1978.  Since then, Union Station had served as a mixed-use complex featuring retail shops, event spaces and restaurants.  It is currently undergoing renovations for an 75,000-square-foot aquarium.  I cannot wait to come back again when the aquarium is opened for business.  I am amazed at how much this city has to offer and there are so many gems hidden to be uncovered.      

Source for background information: http://www.stlouisunionstation.com/about/