Penn Station

Pittsburgh’s Union Station was designed by Daniel Burnham, a noted architect from the Chicago area. Burnham was already famous for his many designs of buildings throughout the world and would continue his fine work in buildings such as New York’s Flatiron, Washington D.C.’s Union Station, and many of the buildings of Chicago’s 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition.

The station was constructed between 1898 and 1903 and was made of brick and a terra cotta material that resembled brownstone. Many architecture aficionados believe that the most magnificent part of this Pittsburgh train station is Burnham’s rotunda, which served as a waiting area for passengers. On the street level, the Rotunda provided a covered turning area for carriages discharging or picking up passengers.

A tall railroad hotel was also part of the design. Again, this was typical of railroad stations of this era.

In 1912, the name of this train station was changed to Penn Station to match all the other stations in the state that served the passengers of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

The station was restored in the 1980s after public outcry as to its deterioration. The entrance was expanded, the main waiting areas were renovated, and the great central skylight was cleaned. The old railroad hotel is now an apartment building.

The station still serves its original purpose. It is the westernmost stop on Amtrak’s Pennsylvanian Route which traverses the state and Pittsburgh locals can also catch the Capitol Limited train to Washington D.C. from this station. It continues to be one of Pennsylvania’s busiest stations.