City - Cincinnati OH - The Central Union Terminal

Colourized photo from 1904 Original title: Central Union Station Photographer: Detroit Publishing Location: Central Ave & Third St, Cincinnati, OH This is the original Central Union Terminal, originally located on the corner of Central Ave and Third St. It was built in 1883, and was in service until 1933 when a new station opened to replace this one. When this building was fresh and new, it was often referred to as the Grand Central Depot, it was home to the Big Four Railroad (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis), along with many others. The train station was designed in 1871, but after some city ordinances got in the way, the project was delayed to 1881. When it finally opened it was described as a grander scale building that its down East (Boston) competitor. That said, the people in this town thought the space was cramped inside, and it could have been prettier. It cost a half million to build (about $12 million today), the architectural style is a combination of Queen Anne and Eastlake. The interior was described as having hardwood, with a fireproof roof. This wasn't the only train station, there was also the the Pennsylvania Station, the Sixth and Baymiller Station, the Court Street Station, and the Fourth Street Station. As a result of all those stations, there was a real tangle of track, all of which was on the riverfront, all subjected to flooding. It became so bad in fact, that they had to build a new train station further away, closing this one earlier than intended. And because they sent the trains ahead to the new station, it left this one alone and empty. On August 31, 1933, they demolished the building. They couldn't keep it because paying taxes on an empty building made little sense. However weeks prior to demolition they gutted the interior to grab anything valuable. Then the brick on the outside was then used in road and construction work, they wasted nothing. Plans in 1934 were made to use this location as a freight yard for perishable use. But by 1939, talks began about redeveloping the Third Street Area in what would become Fort Washington Way. Today this location is a parking lot, however, they kept a piece of the building, which seems to be a tradition in Cincinnati. They kept a chunk of the wall, and the lower floor. If you look at the picture, there is a guy sitting and one leaning, between those, they kept that wall (hard to say they took it based off this picture, its a weird coincidence otherwise). They moved the street over, removed the rest of these buildings, the road on the right is a part of the interstate, and the stadium is on the left some place. Any time traveller would be very confused right now.