Saturday, my girlfriend and I visited Union Station here in Louisville. Currently, Union Station serves as the headquarters for the Transit Authority of River City (TARC) system. In its hey day, Union Station received many travelers and greeted the huddled masses looking for a new start, people seeing their families, or visiting for the Kentucky Derby. For the past year, I have been been wanting to go to Union Station, but only thought they were opened when I was normally at work. We were in luck when we discovered that they are also opened on Saturdays.
Entering the building was like we took a step back in time in seeing the ornate architecture, stained glass, an beautiful floor designs. On the walls were pictures depicting the history of the L&N railroad and Union Station. We stood in the middle of the former train station and marveled its beauty and history. It was amazing to think of the number of people who travelled through this structure over the years. We were fancied to speak with the security guard, who although would not grant us security access to the second and third floors of the building, still provided us good insight into the building's glorious past. The security guard said that he remembered coming through the doors of Union Station when he was in second grade. He was on his way back home to southeastern Kentucky in the mid 50's. According to him, the only way to get there from Louisville was either winding mountainous roads or railroad. For him, Union Station was a majestic place and it was an honor to be back years later and walk its hall again. For me, it was an added piece to an already valuable and memorable experience. The guard also informed us that the Union Station in Nashville was built at the same time as the Louisville site and features may of its same splendor. That may be another blogpost.
