Southern Pacific Railroad Grand Central Station At 329 Franklin St.

[WillowBend56]

In the Dallas Public Library's digital photograph collection---of all places!--- are 25 photographs of the construction of the Southern Pacific passenger depot in 1934. The images include exterior and interior views of the structure including the historical murals. In some views you can see the older Grand Central Depot dating from the 1800's.

http://dallaslibrary.org/CTX/photogallery/searchguide.html

Search the digital collection using the keywords "Southern Pacific Passenger Railroad Station."

I believe the general contractor was a Dallas firm, thus a possible reason for the photos ending up there.

P.S. The site of Grand Central is now occupied by the downtown post office.

Wyatt C. Hedrick (often misspelled as Wyatt C. Hendrick)

[sevfiv]

Neat! Shame about the watermarks, though...

[NenaE]

Nice pics, the tunnel was eerily interesting. Guess they filled that in.

[baron]

Photo #19 is amazing. You can see the new station AND the old Grand Central Depot and trainshed, both of which were demolished probably within a few months after the photo was made. I've never seen both of them in the same photo before.

[WillowBend56]

One distinctive feature of the old pre-1934 Grand Central was its train shed.

It had a shed that completely covered the tracks like many large depots in Chicago, St. Louis, the Eastern U.S., and Europe.

Galveston was the only other Texas city to ever have a complete canopy. Butterfly type sheds that did not completely cover the tracks could be found in other Texas cities and towns. Grand Central had those after the new construction.

Edited October 6, 2008 by WillowBend56

[NenaE]

Does anyone know which hotel sat directly right of the Southern Pacific Depot, seen in the above Dallas collection (pic #9)? Looks like it's made from the same white material as the station, the pic also has a steep grassy incline to the bayou. From UH-Downtown's patio area overlooking the bayou you can see to the north what looks like remnants of a passenger train's covered boarding/unboarding walkway. I'm guessing it's left over from the station (see pic #5).

Edited October 6, 2008 by NenaE

[WillowBend56]

I think the Hotel Brazos was across from Grand Central and the Ben Milam was across from Union Station.

[baron]

I believe the platform shed behind the present Amtrak station is a remnant from the old SP Grand Central Depot of 1934. I also recall Amtrak having a few of the old wooden benches from that station, but this was several years ago. I'm not sure if they're still there (it's been a while since I've lived in Houston).

[Subdude]

Does anyone know which hotel sat directly right of the Southern Pacific Depot, seen in the above Dallas collection (pic #9)? Looks like it's made from the same white material as the station, the pic also has a steep grassy incline to the bayou. From UH-Downtown's patio area overlooking the bayou you can see to the north what looks like remnants of a passenger train's covered boarding/unboarding walkway. I'm guessing it's left over from the station (see pic #5).

The old Hotel Brazos was along the bayou but was torn down to make way for the expanded Southern Pacific terminal. The hotel in the picture on the right, immediately to the east of the station, was the Hotel Macatee. Immediately to the west of the station was the Tennison Hotel, which is still there.

[NenaE]

A few facts about the Southern Pacific Lines Station...

Address: 329 Franklin

Designed by : Wyatt Hedrick

Main waiting room was 2 stories high, w/marble & terrazzo floors.

Arches were cream-colored marble, woodwork was black walnut.

Station opened on Sept. 1, 1934.

Razed 27 years later to build a post office.

from: Houston -The Unknown City (1836 - 1946), M. Johnston.

Subdude or anyone, the Tennison Hotel, is it the one visible from Pierce Elevated, sits right next to the freeway, directly south? Been recently restored, but looks empty...had a painted sign on the north? side wall for years, stating the price of a room. Bldg looks like limestone w/ green tinted new windows & brown fixtures.

Edited October 7, 2008 by NenaE

[Subdude]

A few facts about the Southern Pacific Lines Station...

Address: 329 Franklin

Designed by : Wyatt Hedrick

Main waiting room was 2 stories high, w/marble & terrazzo floors.

Arches were cream-colored marble, woodwork was black walnut.

Station opened on Sept. 1, 1934.

Razed 27 years later to build a post office.

from: Houston -The Unknown City (1836 - 1946), M. Johnston.

Subdude or anyone, the Tennison Hotel, is it the one visible from Pierce Elevated, sits right next to the freeway, directly south? Been recently restored, but looks empty...had a painted sign on the north? side wall for years, stating the price of a room. Bldg looks like limestone w/ green tinted new windows & brown fixtures.

Yeap, that's the one. It was meant to be a condo conversion maybe ten years ago but financing fell through. As far as I know it has remained vacant.

[WillowBend56]

Correct: One platform shed at the Amtrak depot is left over from the 1934 Grand Central depot.

At one time, Southern Pacific trains left Grand Central to Dallas, Shreveport, New Orleans, Austin, Waco, Victoria, Galveston, Corpus Christi, the Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio, El Paso, and points west. An impressive network for one railroad and one depot.

A Houston columnist wrote about the mysterious fate of the historical murals inside Grand Central. They were stored after the demolition of Grand Central and then disappeared.

Edited October 8, 2008 by WillowBend56

[NenaE]

the Bob Bailey Collection has some great b/w shots of the Southern Pacific: http://www.cah.utexas.edu/db/dmr/dmr_resul...&Submit.y=3

I find the aerial shots especially interesting.

Edited October 8, 2008 by NenaE

[57Tbird]

Here is another Bailey Collection photo that is not shown in the group of pictures in the link noted in the previous post by NenaE. It has a good view of the Tennison Hotel.