Cincinnati Union Terminal 75th Anniversary Fireworks Celebration

In 1933, Cincinnati celebrated the opening of its new train station The Union Terminal. 75 years later, Union Terminal is now the home of a number of museums, as well as the Cincinnati Historical Society.

On July 27th 2008, I photographed this 75th anniversary fireworks celebration - a spectacular show!

Background

Union Terminal

Cincinnati was a major center of railroad traffic in the late 19th and early 20th century. Proposals to construct a union station began as early as the 1890s, and a committee of railroad executives formed in 1912 to begin formal studies on the subject, but a final agreement between all seven railroads that served Cincinnati and the city itself would not come until 1928, after intense lobbying and negotiations, led by Philip Carey Company president George Crabbs. The seven railroads: the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad; the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway; the Louisville and Nashville Railroad; the Norfolk and Western Railway; the Pennsylvania Railroad; and the Southern Railway selected a site for their new station in the West End, near the Mill Creek. (Photograph Copyright © Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, OHIO,31-CINT,29-15)

Architecture and Design

The principal architects of the massive building were Alfred T. Fellheimer and Steward Wagner, with architects Paul Philippe Cret and Roland Wank brought in as design consultants; Cret is often credited as the building's architect, as he was responsible for the building's signature Art Deco style. The Rotunda features the largest semi-dome in the western hemisphere, measuring 180 feet wide and 106 feet high.

Current Use

The facility now houses the Cincinnati Museum Center and incorporates an Amtrak station. You may take a Google Street View Virtual Tour of the facility by clicking here.

To view another Fireworks Gallery, click here.