Union Station

The chairman of the board of Kansas City's Union Station is stepping down from that position. Read More

Northern Pacific Railway chooses Tacoma as the western terminus, or end of the line, for the northern route of the transcontinental railroad. 1883: Tacoma's first rail station is built. 1909: Construction begins on Union Station at Pacific Avenue. 1911: Opening of Union Station draws 20,000 people, Tacoma's largest crowd to that point. 1918: The influenza pandemic strikes Tacoma, probably arriving through railroad travel; 1 percent of Tacoma's residents die in the outbreak. 1923: President Warren G. Harding arrives at Union Station and gives a speech at Stadium Bowl. 1937: President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers a speech from the back of his train at Union Station. 1942: Japanese Americans and immigrants from Tacoma depart from Union Station for incarceration at the Pinedale Assembly Center near Fresno, then Minidoka in Idaho or Tule Lake, Calif. 1944: Actor and comedian Jack Benny stops at Union Station on his way to a War Bond show in British Columbia. 1940s-60s: Passenger rail industry declines, as automobile gains popularity. 1974: Union Station is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. 1980: Seven-block area surrounding Union Station is designated Union Depot – Warehouse Historic District and listed in the National Register of Historic Places. 1984: The last passenger train departs from Union Station; building is abandoned. 1987: The U.S. General Services Administration, with congressional authorization, arranges a 30-year lease of the building from the City of Tacoma. 1988: City of Tacoma buys Union Station for $1 from Burlington Northern Railroad. 1990: Construction begins on Union Station restoration and expansion. 1992: Federal courts move into renovated and expanded U.S. courthouse at Union Station. 1996: Washington State History Museum opens in new building adjacent to U.S. courthouse/Union Station. 1997: Permanent Campus for University of Washington Tacoma opens across from U.S. courthouse/Union Station. 2002: Museum of GlassRead More