Why go
This chapter helps you understand what the first Union Station solved and why the original building did not survive intact. It is useful context for comparing the station’s older rail role with the later 1914 center, without assuming that every historic feature can still be seen today.
The full story
Denver’s first train station was built in 1868 for the Denver Pacific Railway, which linked the city with the transcontinental line at Cheyenne. More rail lines followed, but by 1875 passengers transferring between them had to move among four stations. Union Pacific proposed a common terminal, and the four line owners agreed in 1880 to build at 17th and Wynkoop Streets. Architect A. Taylor of Kansas City designed the station that opened in 1881. That first shared depot did not remain whole. A fire in 1894 destroyed its central portion. The Kansas City firm Van Brunt & Howe designed a larger Romanesque Revival replacement. Both the original depot and the replacement had a tall central clock tower with four faces. This sequence matters when reading older descriptions or images of Union Station: they may show different versions of the same rail hub, built to serve changing passenger needs.