Union Station (Gary, Indiana)

Union Station in Gary, Indiana was built in 1910, just four years after the city was founded. The station is located between the elevated lines of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway and Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Built in a Beaux-Arts style utilizing the new cast-in-place concrete methods in which, after pouring, the concrete was scored to resemble stone.[1] Indiana Landmarks has placed the building on its 10 Most Endangered Places in Indiana list.[2] The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.

Gary Union Station
Gary Union Station
Location185 Broadway,
Gary, Indiana
Coordinates41°36′20.3″N 87°20′13.07″W
Construction
Structure typeNeoclassical
ArchitectM. A. Lang
Former services
Preceding station Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Following station
Chicago
Terminus
 Main Line Akron–Union
toward Jersey City
Indiana Harbor
toward Chicago
 Wellsboro
toward Jersey City
Preceding station New York Central Railroad Following station
Indiana Harbor
toward Chicago
 Main Line Millers
toward New York

Location

The building faces west on Broadway. Because it sits between two raised rail lines, it is nearly invisible until one is next to it. The only sign still visible inside or outside the building is a painted notice on the front pillar that says “No Parking Cabs Only”. The method of construction has retained its integrity after 50 years of abandonment.[3]

Interior
The New York Central's eastbound New York Special at Gary Union Station, February 1963

The main room is a two stories hall. At the east end of the hall is a staircase to the loading platform on the upper level. Built into a hill, the building is only a single story in the back. A door on the south side leads from a cobblestone driveway. Across the drive is a staircase built up to track level along the south side. On the north there is a tunnel under the tracks to a stairway up to the loading platform.[3]

Noteworthy passenger trains

Legacy

Successor stations in the vicinity today are the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District's Gary Metro Center and its Gary Airport station, both on the South Shore Line. Amtrak's Hammond–Whiting station (Wolverine) is to the west in Hammond.

Gary's Union Station was used as an example for what could happen to a building in 30 years without humans providing maintenance and upkeep on Life After People: The Series (Season 1, Episode 2).

Union Station was a filming location for the 1951 Alan Ladd movie Appointment with Danger.[6] This shows off a unique feature of the building not clearly visible in most photographs; the eight bar radial star design in each section of window, similar to the design of the British Union Flag. The similarity is probably accidental. Union Station was also featured in the 1996 film Original Gangstas where it served as the hideout for the gang known as The Rebels.

References
  1. Bearing website Archived August 18, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  2. Postcard Images of Gary Landmarks
  3. Lost Indiana Archived July 9, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Table 13". Official Guide of the Railways. National Railway Publication Company. 86 (4). September 1955.
  5. "Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Tables 1, 6". Official Guide of the Railways. National Railway Publication Company. 96 (1). June 1963.
  6. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043292/locations
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