Denver Union Station

he first Union Station was built in 1881 at a cost of $525,000 to serve the Denver and Rio Grande; Denver, South Park and Pacific; Colorado Central; and Union Pacific railroads, which had previously maintained separate facilities. In 1894, the building, constructed of pink-grey rhyolite with pink sandstone trim, was seriously damaged by fire. Although the wings were renovated, the central portion of the station was rebuilt in a more fashionable Romanesque style with a tall clock tower. Van Brunt and Howe, a well-regarded Kansas City architecture firm, completed the work. Due to an increase in passenger rail traffic, the station was expanded twenty years later by once again replacing the center block.

The new section, completed in 1914, was designed in a grand neoclassical style by the Denver firm of Gove and Walsh. The architects clad the structure's steel frame with rusticated and richly carved Colorado granite. A metal and glass marquee at the first floor protects passengers from inclement weather.

On the street and track facades, central recesses hold trios of two-story round arch windows flanked by end pavilions. The arches are embellished with scalloped designs and keystones in the form of scrolls with shields. The pavilions have central niches with decorative plaques bearing the dates "1881" and "1914" to mark the construction of the station's two major sections.

Above the prominent cornice there are clocks on the two main facades for travelers who need to keep the train schedule in mind. Orange neon signs were later added over the clocks, proclaiming "Union Station — Travel by Train"; with time, they have become neighborhood landmarks in their own right. Inside, the large windows flood the old waiting room, now the hotel lobby, with natural light. Looking closely, one sees that the windows' plaster arches bear approximately 2,300 carved columbine flowers—Colorado's official state flower.

Amtrak returned to historic Denver Union Station in time for the evening arrival of the eastbound California Zephyr on Friday, February 28, 2014. Three years earlier, Amtrak moved to a nearby temporary facility to accommodate the renovation of Union Station, excavation of an underground bus concourse and construction of a new Train Hall containing tracks and platforms to be used by Amtrak and the future commuter rail system. The Train Hall, just west of the historic building, features a soaring white fabric roof with curving forms; lighted from within at night, it becomes a glowing Lower Downtown landmark.

Great American Stations

Sit back, relax and take in the view inside one of Denver's most iconic historic landmarks, Denver Union Station. Located in the heart of downtown Denver, the renovated 1914 Beaux-Arts train station is home to 10 chef-owned restaurants and bars, boutiques, and the 112-room Crawford Hotel.

Denver Convention & Visitors Bureau

A Century and a Half in the Making

ike so many ambitious ventures before it, Denver Union Station began as a dream. In the late 19th century, train travel had opened up the West to untold numbers, eager to build a life for themselves on this bold new frontier. With this in mind, the city planners of Denver began designs on a new station that could capitalize on the strong demand for train travel and serve as a gateway to their growing city.

On June 1, 1881, their bold vision was realized as the new Denver Union Depot opened its doors. Spanning 500 feet and adorned with a 180-foot clock tower at its center, the station held the distinction of being the tallest building in the West in its day.

It stood for less than three years. On March 18, 1894, an electrical fire consumed the station, destroying the central hall and iconic clock tower. Though the Depot was quickly rebuilt, its replacement, too, was short-lived. In the span of two short decades, the city found it had outgrown the now comparatively modest structure, and work began on a grand new vision for this reimagined gateway to the Mile High City.

Built from carved granite in the imposing Beaux-Arts style, the newly christened Denver Union Station at last opened its doors in 1914. Since then, it has played host to an impressive roster of notable dignitaries, from Queen Marie of Romania to Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The Station reached its zenith in the mid-1940s, welcoming more than 50,000 visitors daily, including many U.S. service members and their loved ones during the Second World War.

With the waning popularity of train travel in the latter half of the 20th century, the Station gradually fell into disuse. In 2001, efforts began in earnest to revitalize the once-great landmark of historic Lower Downtown, culminating in a grand reopening of the reimagined Denver Union Station as a shopping, dining, and cultural destination in 2014 — precisely one hundred years after the opening of the rebuilt structure.

Denver Union Station