Union Station and Train Shed

You’ve now reached Union Station. At 239 feet tall, this Romanesque building is the tallest remaining structure of nineteenth century construction in Nashville. When the station opened in 1900, it represented a turning point as Nashville completed its transition from an antebellum river town to a post-Civil War commercial center.

After Union troops secured their occupation of Nashville in 1862, they also gained control of the railroads. The Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, which later added St. Louis in the 1870s, was chartered in 1845 as the first railway in Tennessee. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N) was chartered in Kentucky in 1850. Both routes were important in the Civil War—used by the Union to transport supplies and soldiers. After the war, the U.S. entered a golden age for railroads. The profits from the L&N and NC&St.L railroads contributed to the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition. In fact, railroad administrators served as the expo’s president and director. This world’s fair-style event lasted six months and announced to the world that Nashville was a New South model for industry, higher education, and banking. The center of the exposition was a replica of the Parthenon to highlight Nashville as the “Athens of the South.”

Architect Richard Montfort’s vision for Union Station included large stained-glass windows, Italian marble, soaring ceilings, and ornate wood carvings. The tower is topped by a bronze statue of Mercury—the Roman god of commerce, travelers, and luck. Enter the station, which is now a hotel, to see the historic rehabilitation of the grand lobby space, which maintains some of the original design. For more on Union Station, check our list of other tours that include this impressive structure.

After looking at the grand lobby of Union Station, look to your left for a sign above a door that reads Track 14. Walk through the Track 14 door to the balcony that overlooks the former train yard and current parking lot. That is the second part of this stop. When you arrive on the balcony overlooking the Gulch and parking lot, resume the narration.

Looking at this parking lot now, it’s hard to imagine the grandeur of the Union Station Train Shed. When it opened in 1900, it featured the largest single-span gabled roof structure in the nation. The concourse measured 250 by 500 feet, which was large enough to hold ten full-length trains at one time. The last train departed from this massive structure in 1978, and within a year Union Station was abandoned completely. The train shed was torn down in early 2001 after a fire damaged it beyond repair.

As you look past the former site of the train shed behind Union Station, you can also see a panoramic view of the Gulch. Down below you will see the CSX railroad tracks, once part of the L&N Railroad, and the Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis rail line. In addition to shipping and receiving freight, there were many passenger trains. They were full of people traveling to and from Nashville for leisure, work, and school. 

We’ve already mentioned several colleges and universities that started near Rutledge Hill, but there is another historic university for African Americans with roots in this area. According to Dr. Reavis Mitchell, Dean of Social Sciences at Fisk University, “What is today Fisk University was first organized in the fall of 1865, six months after the end of the Civil War. The Fisk Free Colored School opened on January 9, 1866 in the former Union Army hospital barracks located off Twelfth Avenue near Hynes Street, to the right of where you are standing.”

The school was started for African American children after the Civil War and was led by Reverend Smith of the American Missionary Association, former army chaplain Erastus Milo Cravath, General Clinton Fisk of the Freedmen’s Bureau, and Professor John Ogden. Dr. Mitchell describes the original school: “The old army hospital barracks were located near the train station, and when the school opened, they were used as classrooms, dormitories, and dining facilities. In 1867, the school moved to North Nashville, and it remains one of the most important historically black universities in the nation.” Two of these buildings were moved to the present Fisk campus when the school relocated. Fisk University paints a picture of the school’s early days: “The first students ranged in age from seven to seventy, but shared common experiences of slavery and poverty—and an extraordinary thirst for learning.” 

Our last stop is just around the corner. From the rear terrace balcony of Union Station, walk left and look to your right for Cummins Station in the distance.