Union Depot
In 1903 Daniel Burnham was given the opportunity to design the Union Station, he accepted (Union Depot witnessed the growth of El Paso epcclibraries.com). In 1905 The El Paso Union Station was built at a total cost of $260,000 (Mckenzie). With this station built passengers would not have to leave their current train, travel to another train station, and board another train to get to their destination (Mckenzie). With the Union Station passengers would only have to board one train to get to their destination (Mckenzie) With the Union Station transporting all the passengers the other train stations switched from transporting passengers to transporting resources and supplies (Mckenzie). The station saw about 22 trains per day since it opened (El Paso Union Station Museum). The El Paso Union Station brought in people every day like miners, bankers, cattlemen, railroad men and much more (Union depot witnessed the growth of El Paso epcclibraries.com). The tracks that transported trains from El Paso to other cities were laid by multiple companies who mostly used Chinese immigrants as workers (El Paso county historical society Elpasohistory.com). Daniel Burnham ,the designer of the station, was a Chicago architect who was most recognized for his design of the Washington D.C. Union station (El Paso Tx greatamericanstations.com). Daniel Burnham designed the Union station with a neo-classical look with red bricks and a six story high bell tower on the stations northeast corner (Historic Union depot sunmetro.net). The Stations bell tower was used by Pancho Villa as a lookout point for attacks on Ciudad Juarez during the Mexican revolution (Union Depot sun metro.net).
In 1940 the Union station was voted to be remodeled by the Womens Department of the chamber of commerce to have a “regionally appropriate” style (Harvey houses Harveyhouseinfo.com). Many of the Local El Pasoans disagreed and said that “the Union station should remain as original as possible” (Union Station witnessed growth of El Paso epcclibraries). The new version of the building had its red bricks covered with white stucco, the bell towers steeple was removed, the canopy was removed over the front entrance, a small clock tower was installed, and the iron fence around the building was replaced with adobe wall (Harvey houses harveyhouseinfo.com). The building was later remodeled again in 1982, the white stucco covering the bricks was removed and the bell tower steeple was rebuilt (Harvey house harveyhouseinfo.com).
Harvey House
The second floor of the Union station served as a Harvey house (Harvey houses harveyhouseinfo.com). Fred Harvey was an Englishman who left his homeland of England in 1850 at the age of 15 to come to America (Harvey houses harveyhouseinfo.com). Fred Harvey created a chain of restaurants in 1875 called Harvey houses, these restaurants main purpose was to serve hungry passengers that had been traveling long distances without food (Harvey houses harveyhouseinfo.com) These restaurants offered quality meals like lobsters, artichokes, and raw oysters for cheap prices (El Paso Union Museum). Harvey houses were run by young ladies, these young ladies where the Harvey Girls, they served passengers in a black dress and a signature long white apron (El Paso Union station museum). Harvey Girls where paid $17.50 dollars per month for their work and where given a free room to stay in town (Union Depot witnessed the growth of El Paso epcclibraries.com). The El Paso Union Stations Harvey house was managed by Ms. Annie Burns who managed the girls who worked in the restaurant (Harvey houses harveyhouseinfo.com)
The El Paso Union Station was built to support nine separate tracks that trains could arrive or depart from (Historic Union Depot Sunmetro.com). With the Union Station bringing in more and more people everyday the city began to need more and more utilities to support the city's residents (Mangon El Paso in pictures). Utilities then began to seek franchise in El Paso, a few of these utilities where the water company, the telephone company, the gas and electric company, and the street railways (Flynn Historical El Paso). This sudden increase in population brought in by the Union Station also caused housing problems, this caused the city to expand out and build more housing areas and schools (Mangon El Paso in pictures). The El Paso Union Station continued to bring in passengers until 1924 when cars and planes had become a more popular and faster way to travel, this left the railway business to suffer (Harvey Houses Harveyhouseinfo.com). Ever since then the Union Station began to see less and less trains per day, this affected the El Paso Union Station because it could not pay the buildings high maintenance cost and was forced to stop business and close the station in 1974 (El Paso Union Station museum). The El Paso Union Station was filed for abandonment in 1974 (El Paso Union Station museum). building up for sale in 1975 (Harvey houses Harveyhouseinfo.com). The city of El Paso later decided to buy the Union station for $925,000 (Union Depot witnessed the growth of El Paso epcclibraries.com). After the city bought the station it changed the Union station from a train station to a transit station (El Paso Tx GreatAmericanstations.com). With the help of architects Garland and Hillies they began restoring the Union Station in 1982, they removed the paint from the bricks, repaired the bell towers spire, and the woodwork in the building was cleaned (El Paso Tx GreatAmericanstations.com).