TEXARKANA UNION STATION

Adriana Perez
Mar 11, 2019
3 min read

Updated: Jul 17, 2024

Texarkana is twice as nice.

Main Floor to the Texarkana Union Station - February 2019

Early History

The original union station that served the Texarkana stop was built in 1888 by Missouri Pacific (MoPac) and Texas & Pacific. In 1908 The Cotton Belt became a tenant of the building and after spending a considerable amount of money refurbishing the original station, in 1913 The Cotton Belt became part owner of the station.

As a result of a collaboration between Missouri-Pacific, Texas & Pacific, Cotton Belt & Kansas City Southern Railroads and as pressure built from the general public to replace the old station, the collaborators created The Texarkana Trust to begin construction on a new and modern passenger station. The project was funded by the sale of securities of the joint terminal at a cost of $1,667,000 or about $42,384,000 adjusting for inflation.

The group broke ground where the former station was in 1928 and on April 17, 1930 the new station was open for business. On May 12, 1930 the cornerstone celebration was held and it was said that, "The Union Station was one of the most momentous events in the history of the city.”

Postcard of the Texarkana Union Station circa 1940

Design

The Union Station in Texarkana was designed by Architect, E. M. Tucker. He mirrored the building and track design after the Little Rock Union Depot, a station he redesigned after a fire in 1921. The Little Rock Union Depot still operates today for Union Pacific Railroad and now includes commercial and office space.

The amazing Texarkana Union Station is 44,000 square feet and boasts Neo-Renaissance architecture. Three large, beautifully carved, arched windows surrounded by decorative columns highlight the entrance of the building. (pictured above)

Missouri Pacific and Texas & Pacific, the two carriers with the most passenger trains serving Texarkana Union Station, were able to operate through the facility without a backup move. Kansas City Southern and Cotton Belt passenger trains both made back-up moves to access the station.

Provisions were made in the original station design for a restaurant, but due to the Great Depression, the only food service provided was that from a snack and newspaper booth.

It wasn't until 1974 that Amtrak began serving the Texarkana Union Station. Due to lack of access for passengers with disabilities, it was decided at the time, that the main waiting room and ticket counter would not be used. The space was also too large for what Amtrak needed, because of that Amtrak officials decided to retrofit the baggage end of the building to include a ticket counter and waiting area. It is the only part of the station still in use today!

Interesting Facts

In 1876, Congress mandated that the Texarkana railroad station would straddle the state lines of Texas and Arkansas, as a result the building has entrances and exits into both states.

The eastern part of the building, that includes the waiting room and ticket office, are in Texarkana, Arkansas, while the western part is in Texarkana, Texas. This makes the Union Station in Texarkana unique because stopped trains span both states.

It is also one of the few privately owned active train stations in the country.

Heyday & Demise

Throughout the heyday of private passenger train service, Texarkana served as one of the major distribution points for mail and express service. A large Terminal Railway Post Office was located in and next to the station. Express cars originating from points as far as New York City were routed to Texarkana, where mail was sorted for route to their final destination.

Today, the Texarkana Union Station’s main waiting room remains abandoned. The last Missouri Pacific passenger train left in 1971 but has since been inhabited by transients and local vagrants. One of which collects birds in Ziploc bags, but I guess that's a story for another day.

In 2003, it was purchased by Jeff Sandefur, who planned to restore life to the station. After my visit in February 2019, I see no such progress.

This station was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.