Yesterday I wrote about my Amtrak experience from Los Angeles to Portland aboard the Coast Starlight. Today, I want to focus on the beautiful station my journey began in.
Los Angeles Union Station opened in 1939, consolidating LA’s two prior central rail stations into a single station across the street from the El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historic Park (colloquially known as Olvera Street). The station combines elements of Art Deco, Mission Revival, and Streamline Moderne. Designed by the same Parkinson brothers who designed other LA landmarks like City Hall, the station is a beloved landmark of Los Angeles.
I used to take Metro between Pasadena and downtown and walked through this station often. I also used to ride the FlyAway direct bus to LAX to/from this station. It has a special place in my heart as well.
While not the important terminus it used to be in the age of air travel and interstate highways, it still serves a vital function to Los Angeles transportation. And it’s getting better. Just last week, the Harvey House re-opened and now houses a beautiful new restaurant and bar. The new eatery is attached to Union Station and can seat over 400. Its styled after the rest of the station.
Please enjoy these pictures below:
Wow that looks amazing. I’ve been dismayed by the NY area transportation infrastructure since I moved here a few years back but one positive note are some of the gorgeous historic stations left over by the old rail giants. Grand Central, Hoboken Terminal, Newark Penn, Washington DC’s Union Station are the one’s I’ve gone through and they’re each beautiful reminders of yesteryear.
Union Station in DC is my true favorite.
Yes, I was going to mention Union Station. Really nice.
Chicago (Union Station?) is also a beauty. Talk about stepping back in time.
Thank you for this! I was going to ask if you took more pics of the station after the lounge review, but didn’t – it’s like you read my mind. I still find Union Station absolutely beautiful every time I walk through.
Great pics!
Superb photos of this magnificent (and well preserved) edifice, Matthew. Such elegant, imposing lines, blissfully free of almost any advertising. The future isn’t what it used to be.
Now THAT’s a masterpiece of a building! The mix of Spanish colonial and Art Deco is especially interesting.
Your pictures are awesome, Matthew!
The outdoor plaza areas are a great place to relax and people watch. I like to sit by the koi pond. Kids are mesmerized by the friendly fish. Great pictures.
Yes, a beautiful landmark for Angelenos. My wife and I held our engagement photo session there a few years ago…and the photos came out so great, that a magazine (can’t say which one, trying to protect some anonymity here) licensed some of our engagement photos from our photographer to support a feature on Union Station in the magazine!
It’s a very neat thing my wife and I have shadowboxed in our house…the one time we were magazine models. Only possible with a setting like Union Station.
What a great story! Thanks for sharing.
Matthew–I was on a junior high school field trip about to Olvera Street about 40 years ago when I spent my entire free time (about 2 hours) wandering inside and marveling at Union Station, feeling I was transported to another era. It had not yet been spiffed up, but I realized at the time I was experiencing a gem. Thank you for an excellent photoessay!
These and your TWA Flight Center photos are two of my favourite posts.
Thank you!
Union Station in LA is truly a masterpiece well-worth the small effort it takes to get to it; one of LA’s unsung sights.