Union Station — ca. 1916
by Paula Bosse
A century ago… (click to see larger image)
by Paula Bosse
A new Union Station, bustling with activity, as seen across a scrubby vacant lot which, today, is the home of the Dallas Morning News building at S. Houston and Young. See the view today, here.
The photo shows the baggage shed which used to be on the south side of the building as well as the passenger bridge heading to and from the trains, with steps leading down to the platforms. See the details on the Sanborn map from 1921 here.
Union Station has weathered some difficult times and suffered from neglect after the golden age of train travel ended, but after recent extensive renovation/restoration, the historic landmark looks as good as new!
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Copyright © 2017 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.
Flashback : Dallas 
Also known as Dallas Union Terminal.
I’d like to know who operated the café/newsstand concession in the terminal. It was not Fred Harvey as some sources suggest. Fred Harvey operated the food service in the old Santa Fe “Union” Station.
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All concessions — lunchroom, restaurant, newsstand, drugstore, confectionery, and checkroom — were awarded to the Union News Company in Dec. 1915. See the Dallas Morning News story from Dec. 21, 1915 here: http://bit.ly/2mpPWVc.
Because their bid was one of the losing ones, the Fred Harvey restaurant closed at the Santa Fe station and left town. See the DMN article from Jan. 23, 1916 here: http://bit.ly/2o1mcub.
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Interesting to learn that, Paula! I still wonder how the Union News Company beat out the Fred Harvey organization with its excellent reputation.
I’ve seen a date of 1923 for the closing of the Dallas Fred Harvey restaurant. Seems like an error unless the Fred Harvey Co. maintained its restaurant in the old Santa Fe depot years past the 1916 relocation of trains to Union Terminal.
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It seems like the Union News Co. was intent on finally making an inroad into Texas and was determined to beat out Fred Harvey. Every mention I’ve seen of Fred Harvey past 1916 is on their Santa Fe dining cars.
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An interesting detail just below the exact center of this image is a horse-drawn hack or taxi. Surely the middle of the second decade of the twentieth century is at the absolute end of the regular commercial use of horses as motive power for moving people around Dallas.
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[…] Bernice Johnson Union Station, previously known as Dallas Union Terminal, was completed in 1916. At the time, it centralized Dallas’ bustling railroad traffic and created the first truly […]
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[…] “Union Station — ca. 1916” […]
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Always enjoy your stories and pictures.
Thank you for sharing!
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