COLLECTION OF 625+ MAPS, PLANS, AND ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS FOR THE CINCINNATI UNION TERMINAL, 1920s - 1980s

Cincinnati, Ohio: The Cincinnati Union Terminal Company, 1927. Map. Near Fine. Map. One of the last of the great Union Stations, the Cincinnati Union Terminal Company was created on July 14, 1927. Its purpose was to replace the five train stations serving seven railroad lines into Cincinnati, several of which were prone to flooding. Construction started in 1928, and was completed 6 months early, in March of 1933, at a cost of 41.5 million dollars. In addition to the main terminal the complex included viaducts, mail and express buildings, utility structures, a power plant, water treatment facility, roundhouse, and railroad approaches. The Art Deco style terminal, designed by Paul Phillippe Cret, is the largest half dome in the Western Hemisphere and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Oct. 31, 1972. From 1980-1985 it housed a shopping mall, and today is home to the Cincinnati Museum Center, comprising the Cincinnati History Museum, the Museum of Natural History & Science, Duke Energy Children's Museum, the Cincinnati History Library and Archives, and an Omnimax theater. The Cincinnati Union Terminal played a pivotal role in Cincinnati's economy between its opening in 1933 and the late 1970s. As a major transportation hub, the terminal facilitated the movement of people, goods, and ideas, connecting the city to the broader national and regional networks. Its presence stimulated economic activity in the surrounding area, as businesses such as hotels, restaurants, and shops opened to cater to the needs of travelers and commuters. And the Union Terminal's architectural grandeur and its status as a landmark contributed to Cincinnati's reputation as a thriving and dynamic city. It served as a symbol of progress and modernity, attracting visitors and tourists who brought economic benefits to the city. However, the decline of passenger rail travel in the early 1970s as Americans turned to auto and air travel led to a decrease in the terminal's importance as a transportation hub. As a result, both the Terminal and the surrounding area experienced a decline in economic activity, and the terminal itself fell into disrepair, only to first be saved from demolition in 1972 and then to have its use re-imagined with later innovative ideas such as the mall of the 1980s to its current use housing museums today. This archive of maps, plans, and architectural drawings, which also includes many pieces of ephemera- time tables, rule books, studies, the first mortgage, appraisals, and other assorted business papers (approx 2" thick) - covers every decade of the Terminal's history, from the 1920s through the plans for the mall in the 1980s. Approximately 580 of the maps and plans are C.U.T. Co. documents, with another 45 plus related railroad and Cincinnati maps. The large majority of maps and plans are on architectural translucent drawing paper, with the rest being blueprints, brownprints, and paper.They include plans for the main terminal, including 56 plans for placement of all the steel beams made by the R.C. Mahon Co., Detroit, lands to be acquired, plans for the outer buildings, diagrams, topography maps, rights of way, 1,000 foot base map, rehabs done over the years including the plans for the hotel and the mall, approach tracks, and basically every aspect of the project. An amazing archive of the company that planned, constructed, and operated Cincinnati's iconic Art Deco train station for six decades. .. (Inventory #: 010286)