Former Union Train Depot and Railroad Headquarters in CT

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Union Station was the central station and home office for the once-preeminent New Haven Railroad during a period of rail dominance as a transportation means. Much of New Haven's importance as a focal point for New England rail traffic is directly linked to Union Station. It stands as a symbol of New Haven's and New England's dependence on rail transportation which, over the years, contributed extensively to the growth of commerce and industry in the area and provided an elegant gateway to the City.

The Station was designed by Cass Gilbert, one of America's leading architects during the first quarter of this century. Gilbert, who began his career with the firm of McKim, Mead and White, established his own office with James Knox Taylor at St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1880. During the next fifty years he received a wealth of commissions, including the state capitols of Minnesota (1895), Arkansas (rebuilding, 1912), and West Virginia (1928). Gilbert also designed the sixty-story Woolworth Building (1912) in New York, at the time the tallest building in the world, and the United States Supreme Court Building (1934).

The name Union Station symbolized the building's function as the nexus for several New England railroads. It was the third station in New Haven, built to replace the former Union Station which burned on May 9^th, 1918. The existing station, which opened on April 5^th, 1920, is an example of a rapidly disappearing species of building in which monumental interior space and precise proportions are essential to the structure's harmony. Union Station epitomizes Gilbert's personal architectural credo that "no matter how ornate or how simple and plain a structure may be, in the last analysis, its principal claim to beauty lies in its proportions, not in its adornment."

Building Description

The New Haven Railroad Station, or Union Station, was constructed in 1919-20 and designed by Cass Gilbert (1859-1934). The monumental, four-story, brick building is located on Union Avenue, named for the building, and it is a restrained example of the Second Renaissance Revival style. The symmetrical facade is divided into three sections with the central portion projecting a few feet forward. The entire facade has a five-foot-high, crushed-stone and concrete base. Five monumental recessed arches rise three stories and contain the windows for the building's central section. The two flanking sections contain five evenly spaced vertical groupings of windows which also rise three stories. Above the third story, a marble beltcourse extends the full length of the facade and visually sets off the fourth-story windows. The fenestration of the fourth-story central section is comprised of five groupings of three windows placed directly above the arches of the lower stories. In the flanking sections the fourth-story windows are grouped in pairs and similarly spaced directly above the vertical groupings of windows on the lower three floors. The eave of the building is rendered in marble with the underside accentuated by guttae and diamond-shaped panels. The effect of a reef balustrade is created by a continuous row of skylights set back from the eave and separated by vertical supports. The exterior walls of the building are brick, set in a Flemish-bond pattern with glazed headers. The sides of the building are broken by symmetrical groupings of windows, as is the rear of the building which has a four-story fire escape.

At the base of the two outermost arches of the facade's central section are the station's main entrance doors. They lead to a three-story concourse which entirely fills the central section of the station. Directly across from the main entrances are a series of ticket windows. To the north of the entrance doors is a room formerly used as a restaurant and in the corners of the south end of the building are the former "retiring room for women" and "smoking room for men." On the second story a now enclosed balcony runs the full length of the concourse on the east and west (front and rear) of the building. The interior is accented by ten large spherical lighting fixtures suspended on long chains from an ornate coffered, plaster ceiling. Three boxed and painted steel beams span the east-west axis of the concourse. The concourse floor consists of eight inch square brick tiles and the first-story walls are faced with marble. Above the first floor the brick core walls of the concourse are faced with concrete, imitation travertine marble blocks. The original oak benches for passengers are still in place in the concourse.

In the two flanking sections of the building the second and third floors are divided into office space. The fourth floor, which also consists of office space, runs the entire length of the building. Below the first floor is a full basement which contains the heating and ventilating systems.

Union Station has undergone limited alterations, the most significant of which is the enclosing of the second story balcony of the concourse. This occurred in the 1940's to provide space for a U.S.O. lounge and servicemen's facilities. A newsstand and lunch counter in the 1940's replaced an information center in the middle of the concourse. Other minor alterations consist of closing a north entrance to the building and the subdivision and remodeling of office space.