Union Station Is Pittsburgh S Most Unique Train Station

Do you ever wonder what life was like a century or more ago in downtown Pittsburgh? In the days when horses and buggies carted Pittsburghers around, instead of cars and buses? If you just take a stroll through downtown, and stop by this train station in Pittsburgh in particular, you can get a pretty good feel for what yesteryear might have been like.

History whispers from all corners of Pittsburgh, but no whisper is louder than that of Union Station, also known as Penn Station, that sits on Liberty Avenue downtown.

Wikipedia/Public Domain

Union Station, in fact, is the sole remaining train station in Pittsburgh, bringing with it a rich and sometimes devastating history.

Flickr/pedrik

In its heyday, Union Station served the Pennsylvania Railroad, shuttling passengers between Chicago and New York and St. Louis and New York.

Wikimedia Commons/Derek Ramsey

The current Union Station, designed by D.H. Burnham & Company, replaced the first station that burned down at the end of the 19th century.

Flickr/Paul McCarthy

Today, Union Station is owned by Amtrak, and trains leave from the historic station. The upper levels of the station, however, now serve as luxury apartment homes.

Flickr/Mathematical Association of America

The bottom floor concourse, too, has been updated as a lobby for the luxury apartments.

Flickr/David Kent

Still, visitors can admire the beauty of Union Station and its restored rotunda. Union Station itself earned a spot on the U.S. National Register of Historic places in 1976.

Flickr/Zach Frailey However, the Rotunda earned its place on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places three years earlier, in 1973.

Address: 1100 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15222

Flickr/jpellgen (@1179_jp)

Have you visited this historic train station in Pittsburgh? Join the conversation in the comments! Love trains? You’ll probably love this train-themed road trip around the Burgh. Click here to read more.