A brief look at Atlanta’s third Union Station

Atlanta's third Union Station stood from 1930 until 1971. It was replaced by a parking lot.

Postcards showing the 1930 Union Station in Atlanta. (Courtesy Railfanning.org)

The third Union Station in Atlanta opened on April 18, 1930, replacing a structure that had been used since just after the Civil War.

The 1870s-era station was much maligned during its lifetime, and in 1905, several railroads — the Southern Railway, Seaboard Air Line, Central of Georgia and the Atlanta and West Point — moved to the new Terminal Station. When the new Union Station — sometimes called Union Depot — opened, it served the Georgia and Atlantic Coast Line railroads in addition to the Louisville & Nashville Railroad (and its predecessor, the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway).