The History of Union Station
Union Station opened in 1898 as the passenger terminal for the Illinois Central (IC) Railroad. Francis T. Bacon, an IC architect, designed the station, adorning the brick structure with decorative terra cotta and topping it with a 110-foot-tall clock tower. The present tower is a reconstruction of the original, which was removed in 1946.Vacated by the railroad in 1971, Union Station was rehabilitated by the Scully Family in 1985 for retail use. The State of Illinois leased the former train station for offices beginning in 1990, eventually purchasing the building in 1999.A rehabilitation designed by White & Borgognoni Architects that began in 205 returned the station to its turn-of-the-century appearance. Union Station is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Marker can be reached from N. 5th Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
