Union Depot
(1917-1926)
Saint Paul, Minnesota

“The Union Depot [MHPR RA-SPC-5225] … is said to be the largest construction project in St. Paul in the twentieth-century. Its use as a passenger station in the early-twentieth-century defined its predominant place in St. Paul much as the railroads did for establishing the city as a rail hub in the late-nineteenth-century. However, the decline of passenger rail in the United States began while the Depot was under construction, and the St. Paul Union Depot Company’s plans for a civic monument which would not reach its full capacity until 1955 were never fulfilled. The last passenger train left the Depot in April of 1971, as Amtrak was taking over the national railroading system and moving its passenger services out of St. Paul. The next forty years of planning for an appropriate redevelopment of the empty Depot exemplify the significance of this property to the Lowertown district of St. Paul. Its designation to the National Register of Historic Places, both individually and as a contributing building in the Lowertown Historic District, herald the building’s architectural merit and its importance in establishing the railroad as a foundation for the growth of St. Paul and the expansion of the Northwest” (from The Union Depot, St. Paul, Minnesota, Historic Structures Report by Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP).

Prior to removal of selected architectural features, the original carriageway, steps and plaza, and retaining walls were documented for the Minnesota Historic Property Record (MHPR) and The 106 Group, Ltd.