Union Station Area

Denver’s emergence as the metropolis of the Rockies was directly tied to its role as a regional rail hub. When the transcontinental railroad chose Cheyenne instead of Denver as its gateway to the West, Denverites rallied. Civic leaders including Governor John Evans, Walter Scott Cheeseman, William J. Palmer, and David Holliday Moffat, Jr. understood that Denver would not survive without a railroad. Coloradans raised $300,000 in three days to build a 106-mile rail link connecting Denver with Cheyenne. At the groundbreaking, Denverites celebrated not only a railroad but a vital link to commerce and industry that would secure the city’s future. Union Station first opened in 1881 to consolidate passenger service for Denver’s expanding railroads. After fire destroyed it in 1894, its central lobby was rebuilt and later enlarged in 1914. Standing at the terminus of 18th Street, Union Station became and remains the focal point of the Lower Downtown District. With its construction, 18th Street rose to prominence as the premier location for many of Denver’s office buildings, banks, and hotels, including the Oxford, Barth, and Brown Palace, and Union Station and its surrounding landmarks became central to Denver’s identity as the Queen City of the mountains and plains.

Denver, Colorado · United States