Description: Remains of the Union Station arcade in downtown Columbus, Ohio, 1976. Designed by the famous Chicago architectural firm Daniel H. Burnham and Co., the building was Columbus's third Union Station. It opened in 1897, and the arcade was completed two years later. By the mid-20th century, train ridership had declined sharply, and in October 1976 all but one arch of the ornate facade was demolished. The station continued to offer Amtrak service until April 1977, but it was demolished in September 1978. This photograph was submitted by photographer Robert Marks of Columbus in the Spirit of Ohio Bicentennial Photo Contest. In August 1976, the Ohio American Revolution Bicentennial Advisory Committee (OARBAC) began the Spirit of Ohio Bicentennial Photo Contest as part of a larger effort in Ohio to celebrate the 1976 American Bicentennial. The contest was meant to document "the spirit and character of the people and places which represent Ohio during [the] bicentennial year," and to create a permanent photographic archive of the year's festivity for use by future researchers. Both professional and amateur photographers submitted over 500 photographs for consideration, all taken within the state between January 1 and December 31, 1976. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03782
Subjects: American Revolution Bicentennial (1976); Railroad terminals--Ohio; Architecture; Transportation--Ohio--History; Columbus (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.;
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
 

Description: This image shows Big Four Depot. The name Big Four originates with the four cities that it was most associated with. For a time the volume of departures and those riding the trains was quite significant, but this would eventually drop off after a time and the building became defunct. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06745
Subjects: Railroad stations Ohio; Railroad terminals--Ohio; Transportation--Ohio--History
Places: Galion (Ohio); Crawford County (Ohio)
 

Description: This image shows an Interurban Electric Railway station in downtown Columbus. Stations like this were the places where people would go to travel to other neighborhoods with a degree of convenience and a much lower price than other forms of transportation. They remained popular until the invention of another practical form of transportation that rapidly took hold, the first modern cars. Eventually this particular form of transportation was overtaken and put out of business. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06757
Subjects: Railroad stations Ohio; Railroad terminals--Ohio; Transportation--Ohio--History
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio); Ohio
 

Description: This image shows an Interurban Electric Railway station in downtown Columbus. Stations like this were the places where people would go to travel to other neighborhoods with a degree of convenience and a much lower price than other forms of transportation. They remained popular until the invention of another practical form of transportation that rapidly took hold, the first modern cars. Eventually this particular form of transportation was overtaken and put out of business. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06773
Subjects: Railroad stations Ohio; Railroad terminals--Ohio; Transportation--Ohio--History
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio); Ohio
 

Description: Panoramic photograph showing railways and a railroad depot in the town of Bellaire, Ohio, during the early 20th century. Bellaire, incorporated in 1857, is located at the confluence of McMahon Creek and the Ohio River in Belmont County, Ohio. Bridges spanning the river connect people and railroads to West Virginia. Jacob Davis acquired the land on which the town was eventually laid out in 1802, naming it Bel Air after his home in Maryland. His son, Jacob Davis, Jr., laid out the town in 1834. Multiple variations of the town name were used in the early 19th century: when the first post office was established in 1841 the town was listed as Bell Air, and after 1870, the town was called Bellaire. Several railroads built lines through Bellaire in the 1850s that stimulated the growth of local industries such as coal mining, clay, limestone and glass manufacturing. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV88_B01F14_01
Subjects: Bellaire (Ohio); Railroad terminals--Ohio; Railroads--Ohio; Transportation; Trains;
Places: Bellaire (Ohio); Belmont County (Ohio)
 

Description: View of the Cincinnati Wharf as seen from the Suspension Bridge over the Ohio River, viewing upstream. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07978
Subjects: Cincinnati (Ohio); Ohio Economy--Transportation and Development; Railroad terminals--Ohio; Architecture--Ohio; Steamboats; Photography--Ohio
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio);
 

Description: In the early twentieth century, Cincinnati was linked to a number of other major cities through its rail lines. Union Terminal, a single railroad terminal, was developed to provide service for all passenger and freight lines entering the city. Construction began in the 1920s on the art deco style structure that was designed by architects Alfred Fellheimer and Stewart Wagner. Finished on March 31, 1933, Union Terminal had the largest half-dome in the world at the time. Even today it is the largest half-dome in the Western hemisphere. The artwork associated with Union Terminal was as amazing as the physical structure. Maxfield Keck designed bas-relief figures that represented Commerce and Transportation to flank the main doors. Winold Reiss, a German-born artist, designed murals made from glass mosaic tiles to decorate the interior of the terminal. The art deco style murals illustrate the United States' transportation history, different types of work in the United States, and Cincinnati history. Most of the murals were placed within the main entry of the terminal, but additional murals, portraying major Cincinnati businesses, were located in the concourse. The concourse was torn down in the 1970s, and these murals were relocated to the Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati International Airport. Another artist, Pierre Bourdelle, created a mural at the entrance of the women's lounge. After success as a train terminal throughout the 1930s and 1940s, competition from automobiles and passenger airline service led to a decline in use of the terminal. By 1972, the last train service to Union Terminal ended. After a failed attempt in 1980 to turn Union Terminal into a shopping mall, the building was opened once again in November 1990 and was known as the Museum Center. The renovated Union Terminal now houses the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History and Science, the Cincinnati History Museum, the Cincinnati Historical Society Library, the Cinergy Children's Museum, and an OMNIMAX theater. Amtrak began offering passenger train service to Union Terminal beginning in 1991. Union Terminal was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 31, 1972. Its significance as one of the few remaining large art deco terminals meant that it also became a National Historic Landmark in 1977. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06018
Subjects: Ohio Economy--Transportation and Development; Railroad terminals--Ohio; Architecture--Ohio; Photography--Ohio
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Union Terminal, a train station intended for the north end of the neoclassical Cleveland Mall, was relocated to the south and west. Construction of Terminal Tower required the sinking of a 250-foot foundation, the demolition of one thousand buildings, and a massive excavation for railroad approaches along Ontario Street. Completed in 1927, at 708 feet it remained for forty years the tallest building in the world outside New York. The terminal served the New York Central, Erie, and Baltimore & Ohio railroads, as well as local transit; passenger service ended in 1977. The tower complex has since then held a succession of state government offices, corporate headquarters and malls. Looking north, Cleveland Municipal Stadium in background at left. Reverse reads: "Terminal Tower and Civic Center, Cleveland." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B04F10_36_01
Subjects: Cleveland (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.; Railroad terminals
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)