In January 1910, construction of the Oregon and Washington Station (now known as Union Station) begins at the corner of 4th Avenue and Jackson Street. Preconstruction work, including the excavation and construction of an enormous underground tunnel, a retaining wall, and tracks around the station commences soon after the Union Pacific's Oregon and Washington line was granted the right to enter the city on March 6, 1908.
The construction creates one of the most commodious, streamlined, and spectacular railroad stations on the West Coast, paralleling the quality of stations in significant cities throughout the country.
The building consists of a reinforced concrete frame, faced in brick veneer, with terra cotta details reflecting a revival of classical details. The coffered barrel-vaulted main waiting room is one of its most impressive features: It spans 74 feet. This ceiling is suspended from steel roof trusses, which support a gable roof. A continuous skylight runs the length of the roof at its apex.
The president of the Union Pacific touts the building as the "handsomest on Harriman's Lines."
Sources:
"New Station Handsomest On Harriman Lines," Seattle Post-Intelligencer May 7, 1911, sec. 2, p. 8. Margaret A. Corley, National Register Nomination,Union Station, July 1969, Washington State Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation, Lacey, Washington; John Albert Droege, Passenger Terminals and Trains, (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1916), 121-122.
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