Why did so many cities name their train station "Union Station"?

Repetitive place names are but ONE OF MANY annoyances with the US when I write alt history fiction. How will my American nobles differentiate themselves when every other place is a “Union City” or “Washington County”!? We’re too damn big for our own good.

How to tell people you are stupid without having to say so?

Is this a joke post, OP? It’s not funny and if you don’t know the answer it’s quite sad.

r2, indeed, the basic lack of historical knowledge of americans of their own country is staggering

R4, indeed, the basic lack of fundamental language skills of posters is staggering, such as the lack of capitalization of "America" and lack of punctuation in your "post."

R4:

Oh, dear.

Oh, dear.

A comment is not a post, R5.

Because they wanted to draw passengers away from all of the Confederate Stations. It worked! When’s the last time you heard of Confederate Station?

Posting a comment in a post is a posted comment, also known universally except by you as a post.

Your own post is.... typical.

Adding your moniker to a defensive post doesn't provide the detached authority to make up your own definitions of English words as you haphazardly post without punctuation and capitalization at times. Are there other issues than carelessness, as so many other posters posting in their posts have suggested about you? I had never thought so.

I recall over a decade ago a poster who used to think threads on DL were called “blogs”.

They should rename my town’s Union Station - DYSFUNCTION JUNCTION

A bunch of stations were named Confederate Station until the Union won the Civil War. Now they're all Union Stations. Glad I could help 🙂

Years ago, so long ago that few can now remember, Americans were happy that the Union had defeated the Confederacy and kept America as one nation, and they celebrated this victory in naming stations and other things.

They were supposed to be named Onion Station as everyone loved onions, but the sign-painter was dyslexic.

HTH

I can't tell if people are joking, but train stations being named Union Station has nothing to do with the Civil War. They were named Union Station because they were the union point for train lines from multiple railroad companies.

I didn't know that, R15. You are absolutely correct. I thought they were named after the railroad company, as in Union Pacific.

If you're typing on your phone sometimes it's easier not to capitalize...

I go into the men's room at Union Station and have a "union" with other guys. Ah, good times.

Why is there a Manhattan in New York and a Manhattan in Kansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, etc.? And a Manhattan Beach in California?

Because the House of Choo-Choo sounds rather fey?

Finally, a DL thread where I learned something.

@r15, "I can't tell if people are joking"

Yeah, so we've noticed 🙄

Why is there a Manhattan Beach in Brooklyn?!

The California town was named for Manhattan, NYC…

There’s also an East New York in Brooklyn and a West New York in New Jersey.

Why are so many Mexicans named Jose?

The Hoboken train station was named after the Lackawanna Railroad then headquartered in Scranton.

Yeah! And why is the main train station in New York called Pennsylvania Station? Pennsylvania is a different state.

It’s named for the Pennsylvania Railroad like Penn Station in Newark R27

It's Pennsylvania train station in New York and Newark, so confusing for people given they are so close together and the cities sound so similar. Clueless riders will accidentally will get off at Newark.

Oh and I suppose next you’re going to tell me that Grand Central Terminal is named after the “Central Railroad?”

What a maroon.

No. It was named after the New York Central Railroad. Duh.

R30 Oh, dear

R30 It’s Grand, and it’s Central!

Okay then—what was LaGuardia Airlines?

The Pennsylvania RR owned or operated the stations and terminals at which Penna RR trains called; hence, Newark-Penn Station, NY-Penn Station NY, etc. Grand Central Terminal was built by the Grand Central RR for Grand Central trains. “Union” station means the station is a hub for more than one these train lines. PSNY and GCT are both technically “union” stations now that LIRR makes stops at both.

There was no Grand Central Railroad.

I'll trade you Pennsylvania Railroad for Marvin Gardens.

New York Central RR. Read upthread^^

Forgive me. New York Central RR not Grand Central RR.

R35 is full of nonsense.

Many Union Stations were served by Union Pacific Railroad,

I’m suspicious of the whole lot of you. Train stations named after railroads that don’t exist unless they are called Union in which case they are not named after railroads even though there IS a Union Pacific Railroad?

Sure, Jans.

Clearly it’s called Pennsylvania Station because the people who built it were confused about which state they were in.

This calls for a song...

There is a Penn Station in Baltimore but not in Philly.

[quote]There was no Grand Central Railroad.

But there was a Grand FUNK Railroad.

Do Union Stations allow scabs to enter?

During the Great Recession I drove a cab in Chicago to make ends meet. There are 5 train stations in Chicago. I’d get fares who said they need to go to the “train station” all the time. Or ask for the “Metra” (commuter rail) station. Which narrows it down to 5. Many had no clue as to which station to go to so I’d ask where they wanted to go and determine which station they needed. One afternoon a very disagreeable woman got in the cab and said to take her to “Union Pacific” station. The UP trains operate out of what is now called Ogilvie Transportation Center. I tied explainjng this but she was like how can you drive a taxi and not where the train station is. I asked her where me she was going and she said Naperville, pronouncing in “Napper-ville” so obviously not local. I said she wanted the Burlington line out of Union Sation. She said no not Burlington, Metra! So I said oh yeah you want to go to Union Pacific and get on a North line train towards Kenosha, and to save time just buy the ticket on the train from the conductor. I hope she took my advice.

And taxi drivers wonder why they get shit from people!

How Union Station in Washington, DC came about:

When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad announced in 1901 that they had agreed to build a new union station together, the city had two reasons to celebrate.

[bold]“The decision meant that both railroads would soon remove their trackwork and terminals from the National Mall. …. Secondly, the plan to bring all the city's railroads under one roof promised that Washington would finally have a station both large enough to handle large crowds and impressive enough to befit the city's role as the federal capital.[/bold]

See also, S. 4825 (58th-1st session) entitled "An Act to provide a union railroad station in the District of Columbia" which was signed into law by 26th President Theodore Roosevelt on February 28, 1903.

My cheap ass

R35 yes dear…just like many other cities, as noted.

However as LA rapidly grew (the population doubled between 1890 and 1900, from 50,000 to 100,000 people and tripled between 1900 and 1910 to over 300,000 inhabitants) it was felt by the city leaders that one big terminus would be better. They decided that this station should be a symbol of Los Angeles’ progress and new status as an important and wealthy California city that was snapping at the heels of San Francisco.

That’s for dear R50^^

Take a ride on the Reading Railroad and find out, OP.

How do you pronounce that? ;)

[quote]Clueless riders will accidentally will get off at Newark.

As long as they clean up their mess, I'm fine with that.

R37, I love you!

R19 Manhattan Beach, California was originally named "Shore Acres" then it was known as "Potencia." Finally, two brothers (John & Stewart Merrill) bought and renamed the town "Manhattan Beach" after a posh resort they loved in New York. Their plan for their new city was for it to become a hot vacation spot and popular destination resort to the upper class.

Which never came to fruition, R58. My family lived in Manhattan Beach for decades. The current iteration, akin to Malibu or BH or PV, would astonish most people who knew it from the 50s to even the late 80s. A sleepy beach town full of surfers and aerospace folk, before it exploded with wealth. I liked it better then. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Loving the bitchy answers on this thread. It’s what me coming back day after day.

You guys keep me laughing. Love you!

Ethan Allen or Ethan Fromme?

Only one is doable….

R59 - Are you MG, formerly from OC/LA, currently in PDX?

No. I am me, formerly of MB, currently not in CA.

WTF?

"BH" was named after Beverly Farms, Massachusetts.

Atlanta was called Marthasville.

Cincinnati was called Losantiville

St. Paul was "Pig's Eye"

R63 - What wrote sounded like a friend I lost contact with and I thought you might be him. No biggie. My apologies if it sounded creepy or weird.

It did. Apology accepted.

Sioux City Sue. What did Sioux City do to deserve the humiliation? Why didn't people just call her Slutty Sue?