View source for Cincinnati Union Terminal

{{short description|Train station in Cincinnati, Ohio}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{good article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2019}}
{{Infobox station
| name                = Cincinnati Union Terminal
| style               = Amtrak
| image               = CMC-Union Terminal.jpg
| alt                 = 
| caption             = Main (east) facade
| address             = 1301 Western Avenue<br/>[[Cincinnati]], Ohio
| owned               = City of Cincinnati
| operator            = 
| line                = [[CSX]] [[Cincinnati Terminal Subdivision]]
| distance            = 
| platforms           = 1 [[side platform]] (originally 8)
| tracks              = 2 (originally 16)
| connections         = {{Bus icon|12px|Local transit}} [[Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority|SORTA]] Metro route 49
| structure           = 
| parking             = 
| bicycle             = 
| accessible          = Yes{{refn|name=accessibility|Cincinnati Union Terminal has an accessible platform, parking facility, waiting room, ticket office, and restroom. It offers wheelchairs and wheelchair lifts. It lacks high platforms to enable level boarding.<ref name="CIN"/>|group=N}}
| code                = {{Amtrak code|CIN}}
| iata                = 
| zone                = 
| opened              = March 19, 1933<ref name="2003CUT"/>
| closed              = October 29, 1972; reopened July 29, 1991<ref name="2003CUT"/>
| website             = 
| mpassengers         = {{rail pass box|system=Amtrak|passengers={{Amtrak ridership|Cincinnati}}{{Amtrak ridership|citationOH}}|pass_year={{Amtrak ridership|date}}}}
| services            = {{Adjacent stations|system=Amtrak|line=Cardinal|left=Connersville|right=Maysville}}
| other_services_header = Former services
| other_services_collapsible = yes
| other_services      = {{Adjacent stations
|system1=Amtrak
|line1=James Whitcomb Riley and George Washington|left1=Indianapolis|right1=Ashland|note-mid1=1971&ndash;1972
|system2=Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
|line2=St. Louis Line|left2=Delhi|right2=Winton Place
|line3=Toledo Division|right3=Winton Place
|line4=Cincinnati-Pittsburgh|right4=Winton Place
|system5=Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
|line5=Main Line|right5=Covington
|line6=C&O Indiana|left6=Brighton <!-- (Quebec Road) -->
|system7=Louisville and Nashville Railroad
|line7=Main Line|left7=Covington
|line8=Cincinnati–Atlanta|right8=Covington
|system9=New York Central Railroad
|line9=Chicago-Cincinnati|left9=Delhi
|line10=Cincinnati-Cleveland|right10=Dayton
|line11=Cincinnati-Cleveland|right11=Winton Place
|line12=Cincinnati-Toledo|right12=Winton Place
|system13=Norfolk and Western Railway
|line14=Main Line|right14=Clare
|system15=Pennsylvania Railroad
|line15=Chicago-Cincinnati|left15=Winton Place
|line16=Cincinnati-Cleveland|right16=Winton Place
|line17=Hempstead Branch|right17=Oak Street
|system18=Southern Railway
|line18=New Orleans-Cincinnati|left18=Cincinnati Junction
}}
|other_services2_header=Proposed services
|other_services2_collapsible=yes
|other_services2={{Adjacent stations|system=Amtrak|line=Cardinal|left=Oxford|right=Maysville}}
| embedded                = {{Infobox historic site
| embed                   = yes
| name                    = 
| coordinates             = {{WikidataCoord|display=inline,title}}
| area                    = {{convert|287|acre|ha}}
| built                   = 1928–1933
| restored                = 2016–2018
| architect               = [[Fellheimer & Wagner]]
| architecture            = [[Art Deco]]
| visitors_num            = 1.8 million
| visitors_year           = 2019
| visitors_ref            = <ref name="visits"/>
| website                 = [https://www.amtrak.com/stations/cin Amtrak station listing]
| designation1            = NHL
| designation1_date       = May 5, 1977
| designation1_number     = [https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71986485 72001018]
| designation2            = NRHP
| designation2_date       = October 31, 1972
| designation2_number     = [https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71989027 72001018]
| designation3            = CLHL
| designation3_date       = March 6, 1974
| designation3_number     = 0079-1974
}}
 | mapframe = yes
 | mapframe-custom = {{Infobox mapframe |shape=none |marker=rail |marker-color=#{{rcr|Amtrak}} |zoom=14 }}
}}
'''Cincinnati Union Terminal''' is an intercity train station and museum center in the [[Queensgate, Cincinnati|Queensgate]] neighborhood of [[Cincinnati]], Ohio. Commonly abbreviated as '''CUT''',<ref name="Guide" /> or by its Amtrak station code, '''CIN''', the [[Railroad terminal|terminal]] is served by [[Amtrak]]'s ''[[Cardinal (train)|Cardinal]]'' line, passing through Cincinnati three times weekly. The building's largest tenant is 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 [[IMAX|Omnimax]] theater.

Union Terminal's distinctive architecture, interior design, and [[History of Cincinnati Union Terminal|history]] have earned it several landmark designations, including as a [[National Historic Landmark]]. Its [[Art Deco]] design incorporates several contemporaneous works of art, including two of the [[Winold Reiss industrial murals]], a set of sixteen mosaic murals depicting Cincinnati industry commissioned for the terminal in 1931. The main space in the facility, the Rotunda, has two enormous mosaic murals designed by Reiss. Taxi and bus driveways leading to and from the Rotunda are now used as museum space. The now-demolished train concourse held all 16 of Reiss's industrial murals, along with other art and design features.

The Cincinnati Union Terminal Company was created in 1927 to build a [[union station]] to replace five local stations used by seven railroads. Construction, which lasted from 1928 to 1933, included the creation of viaducts, mail and express buildings, and utility structures: a power plant, water treatment facility, and [[Railway roundhouse|roundhouse]]. Six of the railroads terminated at the station, which they jointly owned, while the [[Baltimore and Ohio]] operated through services.<ref name="RA" />

Initially underused, the terminal saw traffic grow through World War II, then decline over the following four decades. Several attractions were mounted over the years to supplement declining revenues. Train service ended in 1972, and Amtrak moved service to a [[River Road station|smaller station]] nearby. The terminal was largely dormant from 1972 to 1980; during this time, its platforms and train concourse were demolished. In 1980, the [[History of Cincinnati Union Terminal#Shopping mall|Land of Oz]] shopping mall was constructed inside the station; it operated until 1985. In the late 1980s, two Cincinnati museums merged and renovated the terminal, which reopened in 1990 as the Cincinnati Museum Center. Amtrak returned to the terminal in 1991, resuming its role as an intercity train station. A two-year, $228 million renovation was completed in 2018.
{{TOC limit|3}}

==Services==
[[File:Cincinnati Union Terminal waiting room 2023b.jpg|thumb|left|The Amtrak waiting room in 2023]]
The station is served by [[Amtrak]]'s ''[[Cardinal (train)|Cardinal]]'' line, operating every other day, three times per week. The service runs between Chicago and New York City; trains to Chicago arrive at 1:31&nbsp;a.m. and trains to New York arrive at 3:17&nbsp;a.m., each departing 10 minutes later.<ref name="Amtk sched"/><ref name="Amtk rail"/>

Likely as a result of the extreme late-night schedule, ridership is among the lowest of [[List of Ohio train stations#Amtrak service|Amtrak stations in Ohio]] and among the lowest for any station serving a metropolitan area of at least two million people. Union Terminal saw 11,862 boardings and alightings in 2016, 11,144 in 2017, 8,315 in 2018, 8,641 in 2019, 5,451 in 2020 and 7,164 in 2021. Ohio's total ridership for 2019 was 132,000 people.<ref name="ridership"/>

The terminal is connected to Route 49 of Metro, the [[Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority]]'s bus system, which also connects to downtown Cincinnati, [[North Fairmount, Cincinnati|North Fairmount]], and [[English Woods, Cincinnati|English Woods]]. The last bus of the night arrives at the terminal at 12:40 a.m., and the first bus in the morning arrives at 4:55 a.m.<ref name="buses"/><ref name="buses2"/>
{{clear left}}

=== Former services ===
[[File:National Limited departing Cincinnati Union Terminal, April 11, 1963.jpg|thumb|left|The ''[[National Limited]]'' began service in 1916, making it one of Union Terminal's inaugural services.]]
The terminal opened with service from seven railroads: the [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]]; [[Chesapeake and Ohio Railway]]; [[Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway]]; [[Louisville and Nashville Railroad]]; [[Norfolk and Western Railway]]; [[Pennsylvania Railroad]]; and the [[Southern Railway (U.S.)|Southern Railway]].<ref name="RA"/>

Amtrak maintained two services here until moving to the [[Cincinnati River Road station]] in 1972, where Amtrak services remained until returning to Union Terminal in 1991.<ref name="riverrd1991"/>
{|class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed sortable"
|+ class="nowrap" | Named trains that have stopped at Union Terminal<ref name="1952catalog"/>
!Name!!Operators!!Year begun!!Year discontinued!!Notes!!References
|-
|''Azalean''||[[Louisville & Nashville|L & N]]||1937||1953||||
|-
|''Buckeye''||[[Pennsylvania Railroad|PRR]]||1957||1969||||<ref name="PRRtrains"/>
|-
|''[[Cardinal (train)|Cardinal]]''||[[Amtrak]]||1991||''Active service''||||<ref name="GreatAm"/>
|-
|''[[Carolina Special]]''||[[Southern Railway (US)|SOU]]||1911||1968||Inaugural service to CUT||<ref name="Rose, Linda"/>{{rp|174–5}}
|-
|''[[Cavalier (N&W train)|Cavalier]]''||[[Norfolk and Western Railway|N & W]]||1928||1966||Inaugural service to CUT||<ref name="Rose, Linda"/>{{rp|174–5}}
|-
|''[[Cincinnati Limited]]''||[[Pennsylvania Railroad|PRR]], [[Penn Central|PC]]||1920||1971||Inaugural service to CUT||<ref name="PRRtrains"/><ref name="Rose, Linda"/>{{rp|174–5}}
|-
|''[[Cincinnati Mercury]]''||[[New York Central Railroad|NYC]]||1951||1957||||<ref>September 1951 New York Central timetable, Table 23</ref><ref>October 1957 New York Central timetable, Table 23</ref>
|-
|''[[Cincinnatian]]''||[[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad|B & O]]||1947||1971||||
|-
|''[[Fast Flying Virginian]]''||[[Chesapeake and Ohio Railway|C & O]]||1889||1968||Inaugural service to CUT||<ref name="Rose, Linda"/>{{rp|174–5}}
|-
|''[[Flamingo (train)|Flamingo]]''||[[Louisville & Nashville|L & N]]||1925||1968||Inaugural service to CUT||<ref name="Rose, Linda"/>{{rp|174–5}}
|-
||''Florida Sunbeam''||[[Southern Railway (US)|SOU]]||1936||1949||||
|-
|''[[George Washington (train)|George Washington]]''||[[Chesapeake and Ohio Railway|C & O]], [[Amtrak]]||1932||1972||Inaugural service to CUT||<ref name="Rose, Linda"/>{{rp|174–5}}
|-
|''Great Lakes Limited''||[[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad|B & O]]||1929||1950||Inaugural service to CUT||<ref name="Rose, Linda"/>{{rp|174–5}}
|-
|''[[Humming Bird (train)|Humming Bird]]''||[[Louisville and Nashville Railroad|L & N]]||1947||1968||||
|-
|''[[James Whitcomb Riley (train)|James Whitcomb Riley]]''||[[New York Central Railroad|NYC]], [[Penn Central|PC]], [[Amtrak]]||1941||1972||||
|-
|''[[Metropolitan Special]]''||[[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad|B & O]]||1919||1971||Inaugural service to CUT||<ref name="Rose, Linda"/>{{rp|174–5}}
|-
|''Michigan Special''||[[New York Central Railroad|NYC]]||1930||1958||Inaugural service to CUT||<ref name="Rose, Linda"/>{{rp|174–5}}
|-
|''[[National Limited]]''||[[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad|B & O]]||1916||1971||Inaugural service to CUT||<ref name="Rose, Linda"/>{{rp|174–5}}
|-
|''[[Night Express (B&O train)|Night Express]]''||[[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad|B & O]]||1960||1967|| || 
|-
|''[[Northern Arrow]]''||[[Pennsylvania Railroad|PRR]]||1935||1961||||<ref name="PRRtrains"/>
|-
|''[[Ohio State Limited]]''||[[New York Central Railroad|NYC]], [[Penn Central|PC]]||1924||1967||Inaugural service to CUT||<ref name="Rose, Linda"/>{{rp|174–5}}
|-
|''[[Pan-American (train)|Pan-American]]''||[[Louisville and Nashville Railroad|L & N]]||1921||1971||Inaugural service to CUT||<ref name="Rose, Linda"/>{{rp|174–5}}
|-
|''[[Pocahontas (train)|Pocahontas]]''||[[Norfolk and Western Railway|N & W]]||1926||1971||Inaugural service to CUT||<ref name="Rose, Linda"/>{{rp|174–5}}
|-
|''[[Ponce de Leon (train)|Ponce de Leon]]''||[[Southern Railway (US)|SOU]]||1924||1968||Inaugural service to CUT||<ref name="Rose, Linda"/>{{rp|174–5}}
|-
|''[[Powhatan Arrow]]''||[[Norfolk and Western Railway|N & W]]||1946||1969||||
|-
|''[[Royal Palm (train)|Royal Palm]]''||[[Southern Railway (US)|SOU]]||||1970||Inaugural service to CUT||<ref name="Rose, Linda"/>{{rp|174–5}}
|-
|''[[South Wind (train)|South Wind]]''||[[Louisville and Nashville Railroad|L & N]]||1940||1971||||
|-
|''[[Southland (train)|Southland]]''||[[Louisville and Nashville Railroad|L & N]], [[Pennsylvania Railroad|PRR]]||1915||1957||Inaugural service to CUT||<ref name="PRRtrains"/>
|-
|''[[Sportsman (train)|Sportsman]]''||[[Chesapeake and Ohio Railway|C & O]]||1930||1968||Inaugural service to CUT||<ref name="Rose, Linda"/>{{rp|174–5}}
|-
|''Union''||[[Pennsylvania Railroad|PRR]]||1933||1971||||<ref name="PRRtrains"/>
|-
|''White City Special''||[[CCC&StL]]||||||Inaugural service to CUT||<ref name="Rose, Linda"/>{{rp|174–5}}
|-
|''[[Xplorer (New York Central Railroad train)|Xplorer]]''||[[New York Central Railroad|NYC]]||1956||1957||||
|}
{{clear left}}

==Operations==
[[File:Cincinnati Union 11.jpg|thumb|Dinosaur skeleton displays at the Museum of Natural History]]
The facility, grounds, and parking lot are owned by the City of Cincinnati, while the tracks and platforms are owned by the freight railroad company [[CSX Transportation]].<ref name="GreatAm"/> The city leases the building primarily for Amtrak use and the [[Cincinnati Museum Center]], a collection of five entities:
* [[Cincinnati History Museum]]
* Museum of Natural History & Science
* Robert D. Lindner Family [[Omnimax]] Theater
* Cincinnati History Library and Archives
* [[Duke Energy Children's Museum]]

The terminal also houses the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center,<ref name="HoloCenter"/> several foodservice operations, and event space.<ref name="biz"/><ref name="reno"/>

===Visitor services===
[[File:Cincinnati Union Terminal 25.jpg|thumb|Information desk and ticket office]]
All areas of the museum center are wheelchair-accessible.<ref name="CM 1991"/> The Amtrak station is also accessible and [[Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990|ADA]] compliant.{{refn|name=accessibility|group=N}} The main information desk is used for ticketing, and has daily schedules, museum maps, and coat checking, and has information on special events and the building's lost and found items. The Museum of Natural History operates two gift shops: one adjacent to the rotunda and a children's gift shop in the museum wing. The History Library operates a separate shop adjacent to the rotunda.<ref name="CM 1991"/>

There are three dining rooms on the main concourse, two on the lower level, a retail shop, and other rotating operations. The main level operation Cup and Pint serves pizzas, coffee, and draft beer, while Nourish 513 serves sandwiches, salads, and fast food. The Rookwood tea room is operating as a [[Graeter's]] ice cream location.<ref name="biz"/>

In 2014, the museum center and the [[Google Cultural Institute]] created a virtual tour of the museum using [[Google Street View]], with about 65 works of art and their descriptive labels viewable.<ref name="streetview"/>

==Terminal complex attributes==
===Architects and Art Deco design===
The station building was designed by the firm [[Fellheimer & Wagner]], and is considered the firm's [[magnum opus]].<ref name="RDST"/> Fellheimer was known for designing train stations; he was lead architect for [[Grand Central Terminal]] (1903–1913). The large and busy firm gave the project design to [[Roland A. Wank]], a younger employee.<ref name="Condit"/>

Wank's original plan was traditional and featured [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic]] architecture: large arches, vaulted ceilings, and conventional benches in long rows.<ref name="Exhibition"/> In 1930, while initial construction took place, the terminal company persuaded the architects to hire [[Paul Philippe Cret]] as a design consultant. In 1931–32, Cret altered the design aesthetic:<ref name="Condit"/> thereafter, the terminal and its supporting buildings used modern architecture (later known as [[Art Deco]]), even in places not visible or open to the public.<ref name="CAD"/> The revised designs were approved as cheaper than the intricate Gothic designs, and more cheerful and stimulating with their colorful interiors than previous designs.<ref name="Exhibition"/>

===Location, layout, and exterior===
[[File:CUT aerial 02.jpg|thumb|left|Location facing the [[Cincinnati Music Hall|Music Hall]] and downtown]]
Cincinnati Union Terminal is located in the [[Queensgate, Cincinnati|Queensgate]] neighborhood, created in the mid-20th century; originally it was part of the [[West End, Cincinnati|West End]]. The location is north of the Ohio River and west of downtown Cincinnati.<ref name="Interior details"/> The terminal lies directly east of the Gest Street [[rail yard]],<ref name="Guide"/> and directly west of an expansive lawn and parking lot, formerly [[Lincoln Park (Cincinnati)|Lincoln Park]]. The terminal lies at the western end of Ezzard Park Drive (named Lincoln Park Drive from 1935 to 1976, after the park, and subsequently named for Cincinnati resident [[Ezzard Charles]]).<ref name="Drive"/> The eastern end of Ezzard Park Drive abuts [[Cincinnati Music Hall]], another icon of Cincinnati, visible from the terminal's front terrace.<ref name="MusicHall"/><ref name="NRHP"/> The complex's northern boundary is Kenner Street, its southern is Hopkins Street, its western is the Gest Street rail yard, and its eastern boundary is Western Avenue (formerly Freeman Avenue).<ref name="DOE"/>

The terminal complex opened in 1933 with 22 buildings, {{convert|287|acre||adj=pre|total}}, and {{convert|94|mi}} of track.<ref name="Cincy 1979"/><ref name="StLouis"/> 130 acres were occupied by the terminal and its surrounding grounds, while 157 acres were occupied by supporting railroad facilities.<ref name="DOE"/> The station building in total has {{convert|504000|sqft}}.<ref name="sqft"/>

The building has a roughly T-shaped structure surmounted by its half-dome.<ref name="Cincy 1979"/> It was built with five floors, but only two primary levels: the track level, and the station floor, placed above the tracks for simplicity of arrangement and for more architectural opportunities. The building lies east of the tracks, facing Downtown Cincinnati. The building is aligned on a central axis: the east lawn, the terrace, the main concourse, the checking lobby, and finally the train concourse built over the tracks, leading to the station's platforms.<ref name="RA"/><ref name="NRHP"/> The station was considered to have a "pull-through" design, less common though more efficient than the "head-house" style. Another example of a pull-through station is [[Kansas City Union Station]], while [[Grand Central Terminal]] is a head-house-style terminal.<ref name="COE-04-29"/> Carroll Meeks, a professor of architecture and art history at [[Yale University]], compared its layout to a half funnel laid out on the ground, with the wide end collecting passengers and the narrow end ejecting them out onto the platforms.<ref name="RDST"/>

Cincinnati Union Terminal had a capacity of 216 trains per day, 108 in and 108 out, carrying 17,000 passengers.<ref name="RDST"/> Three concentric lanes of traffic were included in the design of the building, carrying traffic through enclosed ramps to a space beneath the main rotunda of the building, with ramps again for departure. One lane was for cars and taxis, one for buses, and one (never used) for [[streetcar]]s. Similar to [[Buffalo Central Terminal]], Union Terminal used a system of ramps for passengers to access the {{convert|1600|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}} platforms below the concourse.<ref name="RDST"/><ref name="Woodward"/>

The building's architecture and design received mostly positive acclaim, though even in 1933 it was seen as possibly the last grand intercity train station built.<ref name="RA"/> Carroll Meeks described the passenger's route from the tracks up to the concourse and back down again to vehicle ramps as relatively complicated and arduous.<ref name="Meeks"/>

====Grounds east of the terminal====
{{multiple image|align=right|total_width=400|image1=CUT HABS aerial.jpg|caption1=Terminal and grounds, c. 1947|image2=CUT aerial 03.jpg|caption2=Grounds in 2016}}
The space to the east of the station consists of a terrace and fountain to the west and parking lots around a narrow lawn to the east.<ref name="Interior details"/>

The terminal lawn originally measured {{convert|1400x500|ft}},<ref name="Cincy 1979"/> and gently carries broad driveways upward to the terminal.<ref name="RA"/> The lawn was originally Lincoln Park, a lush city park. It was remodeled during the terminal's construction to have simpler decorative landscaping, though it retained the name of Lincoln Park. The relandscaping included elms and sycamore tree borders, with flower beds in the central strip. The central strip is still intact, but the portions to its north and south became parking lots in 1980.<ref name="Interior details"/><ref name="lost"/>

{{multiple image|align=left|total_width=350|image1=Cincinnati Union Station - 32708255834.jpg|caption1=Former entrance sign|image2=Cincinnati Union 01.jpg|caption2=Current sign}}
The west end of the lawn has an ornamental terrace with steps, hedges, and a central fountain. The terrace also features two groups of four pylons, supporting concealed flood lights.<ref name="RA"/> Behind the terrace, a driveway curves around the half oval to the building's entranceway.<ref name="Cincy 1979"/> Dalton Avenue runs through a tunnel beneath the plaza.<ref name="Dalton"/> The fountain cascades water down a set of scalloped tiers into a pool below. It was constructed of concrete and green terrazzo, and was designed by Fellheimer & Wagner.<ref name="RA"/>

The grounds also feature a large Art Deco sign, not original to the building. For a time, the sign read "Cincinnati Museum Center", though during the extensive renovation in 2018, it was replaced with the current sign, reading "Cincinnati Union Terminal".<ref name="sign"/>
{{clear left}}

====Main facade====
{{multiple image|total_width=400|header=Inspiration for the main facade|image1=Estación central de FF.CC. de Helsinki, Finlandia, 2012-08-14, DD 05.JPG|caption1=[[Helsinki Central Station]]|image2=CUT HABS east front A.jpg|caption2=The terminal in 1981}}
[[File:CUT ramps.jpg|thumb|Right to left: incoming traffic wing, rotunda, and outgoing traffic wing and ramp]]
The main facade, {{convert|500|ft}} wide in total,<ref name="Waite"/> is the only portion visible from the plaza approach, and it is the building's most striking exterior feature. The only arriving passenger entry is from the east side of the terminal, due to rail lines to its north, south, and west. The central portion is semicircular, with a half-circle of frosted windows divided vertically by flat limestone [[mullion]]s, and a long polished aluminum and glass [[Marquee (structure)|marquee]] lies directly beneath the windows. Beneath this are nine aluminum-faced doors leading to a marble vestibule and the rotunda. The arch ends with a series of [[stepped gable]]s. The domed section is flanked by two symmetrical wings, lower in profile, each of which curves 90 degrees to the east. These curve around the driveway, which was only used for private cars. The north wing carried three lanes of traffic beneath the rotunda and out the south wing; the inner for taxicabs, the middle for buses, and the outer lane was intended for [[Streetcars in Cincinnati|Cincinnati's streetcar system]], though it was never used.<ref name="Cincy 1979"/><ref name="RA"/> The taxi and bus drives connected to the main driveway; the streetcar drive utilized separate ramps beginning at Kenner Street and ending at Hopkins Street.<ref name="ramps"/> In 1956, architectural historian Caroll Meeks referred to the terminal's vehicular traffic system as the most elaborate in any modern station.<ref name="Meeks"/>

The main facade's central arch was inspired by [[Helsinki Central Station]] in [[Helsinki, Finland]],<ref name="RDST"/> which Fellheimer visited in 1927.<ref name="Helsinki"/> The terminal was also reported as resembling [[Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi railway station]] in [[Kyiv]], Ukraine.<ref name="CM 1991"/>

Two of the facade's mullions support a large central clock.<ref name="HollandKJ"/> It measures {{convert|18|ft}} in diameter and weighs 5 tons; the hour and minute hands are 6'4" and 7'4" respectively. There are 52 panes of glass; 24 are red-tinted, while 28 are amber. It is unknown who designed it, though the Cincinnati Watch Company believes it was most likely Paul Cret. It was constructed by the [[Seth Thomas Clock Company]]. The clock is original to the terminal, and was synchronized with all others in the terminal with a system created by [[IBM]].<ref name="clock"/> Neon tubing on the aluminum hour and minute hands is also original,<ref name="RA"/> lighting them in an orange-red hue. The hands were originally skeleton hands, with a hollow center. Later on, the hands were modified and filled in. The 2016-2018 renovation restored the clock, and returned the clock hands to their original appearance.<ref name="clock"/>

The relatively unornamented facade has two [[bas-relief]] carvings by Maxfield Keck on buttresses at the north and south ends of the arch. The north carving represents transportation, while the south represents commerce.<ref name="Cincy Museum 75"/>

;Gallery
<gallery widths="120px" heights="120px" perrow="8" mode="packed">
File:Cincinnati Union 12.jpg|Exterior clock
File:Athena - Cincinnati Museum Center.jpg|South buttress carving
File:Mercury - Cincinnati Museum Center.jpg|North buttress carving
File:Incoming Taxis & Motor Coaches Wing, Cincinnati Union Terminal, Queensgate, Cincinnati, OH (46615919875).jpg|Detail of the north wing
File:Cincinnati Union 05.jpg|[[Marquee (structure)|Marquee]]
File:Rotunda Entry Doors, Cincinnati Union Terminal, Queensgate, Cincinnati, OH (32588987617).jpg|Main entry doors
</gallery>

====Exterior materials====
The building has a steel frame, masonry curtain walls, and concrete floors and roof slabs.<ref name="Condit"/>

The entire east facade and the outer walls of the entrance drives are faced with a light, fine-grained [[Indiana limestone]], with a low granite base.<ref name="RA"/><ref name="Condit"/> The low walls and pylons in front of the building are made of the same limestone. Fossils of [[sea lilies]], [[bryozoan]]s, [[brachiopod]]s, snails, and other organisms can be seen in the stone.<ref name="stone"/> The entranceway under the marquise features [[Morton Gneiss]], a [[Coldspring (company)|Cold Spring]] dark rainbow granite.<ref name="RA"/><ref name="stone"/> Morton Gneiss was popular in American Art Deco architecture at the time.<ref name="MortonGneiss"/> The fountain utilizes pink porphyritic granite.<ref name="stone"/> The side and rear walls of the building utilize light buff brick. The dome was originally covered with terra cotta, though it was replaced with aluminum sheathing in 1945.<ref name="Condit"/> The entrance arcades are lined with cream-colored terra cotta.<ref name="RA"/>

===Related structures===
[[File:Cincinnati Union Terminal - RA - 10.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Terminal complex structures and tracks, 1933]]
[[File:CUT Pictorial History 17c.jpg|thumb|Utility buildings in 1933, left to right: coaling station and coach yard service building, power plant, and roundhouse]]
The terminal was built along with several auxiliary buildings, on the north side of the station, also designed in the Art Deco style.<ref name="CAD"/> They were designed by Edgar D. Tyler, a staff architect for Fellheimer & Wagner, as well as a former student of Paul Cret.<ref name="Exhibition"/><ref name="Stanford"/>

The mail handling building and express terminals were on the east side of the terminal property, easily accessible to the city's downtown, and directly to the west and north of the Dalton Avenue U.S. Post Office, completed around 1933 and still standing.<ref name="RA"/>

The mail building, {{convert|173x178|ft}}, was a steel-frame, flat-roofed enclosure for chutes and conveyor belts. The building was also connected to the post office through conveyor belts, delivering city mail separate from transfer mail; the post office in turn delivered outgoing mail split between northern and southern railways. The mail building had two platforms each with two conveyors and serving two tracks, one platform for southbound mail and one for northbound mail.<ref name="RA"/>

The express terminal was {{convert|742|ft}} long, ranging from {{convert|40-136|ft}} wide. The building was two stories tall, steel-framed, with brick walls and concrete floors and roofs. The second floor was used for offices and storage. It also included platforms with canopies.<ref name="RA"/>

The terminal complex also included a roundhouse, washing platform, cinder pit, fire-lighting stations, coaling station, two electric substations, a power plant, and a water treatment plant. The roundhouse had 20 indoor stalls, 17 outdoor spaces, and a [[Railway turntable|turntable]] with a {{convert|115|ft|adj=on}} diameter. The power plant had a 250-foot chimney and a set of three boilers. The plant's basement housed a water treatment plant, which used [[zeolite]] to purify city water, softening the water.<ref name="RA"/>

===Interior layout and architecture===
[[File:CUT Floor plan.jpg|thumb|upright|Original main level floorplan]]
Contrasting with the exterior's simple color scheme,<ref name="Condit"/> the building's interior is characterized by bright, warm colors, intensified with natural light in daytime and with illumination at night. These colors and lighting contrast with the interior's simple form and detail. Most of the interior metal work is made of aluminum, including doors, signs, ticket grills, and light fixtures.<ref name="RA"/>

The floor was consistently patterned in the rotunda, through the checking lobby, and into and through the train concourse. The pattern was [[terrazzo]] divided by brass strips into bands and panels in shades of gray and rose.<ref name="RA"/> The contrasting flooring was laid out in way that guided traffic to and from the main entrance and platforms.<ref name="Drucker"/>

All interior spaces were designed without visible heating or cooling units. Hot air would be vented into the train concourse behind light fixtures. The ramps were also heated, to prevent drafts of cold air from entering the concourse. The rotunda's vestibules were also heated, and the central space was indirectly heated: the space between the inner plaster dome and outer cement dome was heated, as well as the space between the east facade's two panes of glass. This would surround the rotunda with warm air, insulating it from the cold.<ref name="Drucker"/>

====Rotunda====
{{multiple images
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| image1 = Cincinnati - Union Terminal (OHPTC) - 35496700530.jpg
| caption1 = Rotunda from the east balcony
| image2 = Cincinnati Union Terminal Rotunda.jpg
| caption2 = East wall of the Rotunda
| direction = 
| alt1 = 
}}
The main entrance leads to a small marble vestibule, which leads to the terminal's main concourse, the [[Rotunda (architecture)|Rotunda]].<ref name="Cincy 1979"/> It is a semi-circular space measuring {{convert|176|ft}} wide, {{convert|125|ft}} deep, and {{convert|106|ft}} tall.<ref name="RA"/> The arched front of the building forms the east wall of the rotunda;<ref name="RA"/> the other interior walls have a high [[dado (architecture)|dado]] clad in red and yellow [[Verona marble]], with a dark red marble trim of [[Tennessee marble]] at the base,<ref name="stone"/> and molded plaster used above the dado and up to the ceiling.<ref name="Cincy 1979"/> The room's marble is 150 million years old, containing numerous fossilized skeletons. Approximately 24 of these fossils are visible in the walls of the Rotunda.<ref name="CM 1991"/> Sound-absorbing plaster covers the dome ceiling, which has yellow and orange plaster banded with silver strips.<ref name="Cincy 1979"/> The room is designed with Art Deco details like the other original portions of the building. It was designed with colorful pastels, and features colorful mosaic murals by Winold Reiss.<ref name="RDST"/>

The rotunda's semi-circular central information desk and ticket kiosk originally served as a newsstand and tobacco shop,<ref name="Cincy 1979"/> and was originally the only structure in the rotunda.<ref name="RA"/> It features a decorative sphere and a digital clock, possibly the first digital clock installed in a public space. The clock is no longer functioning.<ref name="CAD"/>

[[File:Cincinnati Union Terminal 29.jpg|thumb|Rotunda ceiling]]
The northern curved wall housed 18 ticket windows, while the southern curved wall had a soda fountain, telegraph counter, drug store, and the entrance to the terminal's two dining rooms. The east wall included four shops, a travel bureau, the Rookwood Tea Room, and a small theater.<ref name="RA"/> The shops were for men's apparel, women's apparel, books, and toys. The toy shop had star and moon light fixtures that reflected colors from the ceiling onto the toys, which were depicted in patterns on the shop's floor.<ref name="Drucker"/>

The rotunda features a seemingly unlikely [[whispering gallery]]. The east wall's arch around its windows features decorated flues, elements typical in Art Deco design. The flues act as sound channels, allowing people 30 meters apart at the base of each arch, by symmetrical drinking fountains, to hold a private conversation with ease.<ref name="whispering"/>

The Rotunda features the largest [[semi-dome]] in the [[western hemisphere]], measuring {{convert|180|ft}} wide and {{convert|106|ft}} high (about ten stories in height).<!--Or 120 ft. high<ref name="Waite"/>--> It was considered the largest in the world until 1973, when the [[Sydney Opera House]] was built.<ref name="CAD"/>
{{clear left}}

====Train concourse====
[[File:Cincinnati Union Terminal - RA - 21.jpg|thumb|left|Train concourse, 1933]]
The train concourse, demolished in 1974, measured {{convert|79x410|ft}}. It lay directly above the railroad tracks, and had doors on its north and south sides, eight on each side. The sixteen gates each led to stairs and ramps to the platforms below. The concourse was well-lit with tall windows throughout. The room carried on the same marble pattern of the rotunda walls, and had a segmental arch ceiling 36 feet, 8.5 inches above the floor at the crown, painted in shades of yellow from pale lemon to orange. The room was used as a waiting area, though it lacked traditional wooden benches. Instead it had American Oak Leather-upholstered settees and chairs in aluminum frames, placed in twelve concentric groups of 46 seats, each around a small, round teakwood table. A conductors' visa counter was installed at the east end of the concourse at its longitudinal center.<ref name="RA"/> The room featured the [[Winold Reiss industrial murals]], commissioned for the space, as well as a large map mural, the only artwork original to the terminal that was demolished.<ref name="Cincy 1979"/> The concourse's west end had a large clock, also saved from demolition. The clock was moved to an outdoor domed display in the Town Center parking garage, near Cincinnati Music Hall. In 2018, workers removed the clock from the garage and delivered it to the Museum Center, which plans to assess the clock's condition and decide where to display it.<ref name="TCclock"/> The entrance to the concourse had two train bulletin boards; a departure chalkboard at the north side and an arrivals chalkboard at the south side. One Reiss mural decorated the space above each board: a departing train above the departures and an arriving train above the arrivals.<ref name="Drucker"/>

====Platforms and tracks====
[[File:CUT track-platform layout.jpg|thumb|1931 platform and track schematic]]
The terminal was built with eight platforms and sixteen platform tracks, with room for expansion to 22 tracks.<ref name="StLouis"/> The platforms and tracks ran north to south, partially beneath the train concourse.<ref name="Drucker"/> The platforms were {{convert|28|ft}} wide, unusual in train station design, and {{convert|1580|ft}} long, and able to be extended to 2,400 feet. They had concrete bases, covered with canopies. The support columns were 80 feet apart, also noted as unusual. The canopies were of painted steel; roofing was by the Philip Carey Company.<ref name="RA"/>

Parking tracks were installed between the platform tracks, as there was sufficient room between the platforms. These tracks allowed for sleeping cars and express cars to be exchanged.<ref name="RA"/>

====Baggage facilities====
[[File:Cincinnati Union Terminal - RA - 18.jpg|thumb|1933 floorplan of the baggage level]]
The baggage level occupied space directly beneath the checking lobby and train concourse. The space also utilized a drive-through loading platform, where cars would enter the north side of the baggage level, drop off luggage on the loading platform, and exit the south side. Trucking ramps were located directly beneath the train concourse's northern passenger ramps, and a passageway connected the facility to the mail handling building.<ref name="RA"/>

====Tower A====
{{multiple image|align=left|direction=vertical
|image1=Cincinnati Union Terminal - RA - 16.jpg|caption1=Tower A interlocking machine,<br>c. 1933
|image2=Cincinnati Union Terminal 37.jpg|caption2=The space today
}}
Tower A, a former [[signal tower]], is open to the public as a railroad exhibit once per year. The tower is located on the fourth and fifth floors at the east end of the station, with sets of windows on the north, east, and south. It overlooks the Gest Street rail yard as well as a mile north and south, including part of Queensgate Yard.<ref name="Guide"/> The room was noise-insulated with cork linoleum and Celotex due to its once-frequent exposure to passenger trains. The tower featured a large electro-pneumatic [[interlocking]] machine, built by the [[Union Switch & Signal|Union Switch & Signal Company]]. The machine had 187 levers, making it the largest interlocking machine in service at the time. Light bulbs underneath each switch indicated information. Above the machine was an illuminated track model.<ref name="RA"/>

From 1989 to 2018, the Cincinnati Railroad Club occupied the space, offering public access to the space and operating a museum for the rail yard and station's innovative interlocking system.<ref name="CAD"/> The club had been meeting in the terminal since 1938. In 1989, the club refurbished the space, installed exhibits there, and staffed it on weekends with volunteers beginning in 1991. Since the terminal's 2018 renovation, the club was required to pay rent, something that was mandatory for tax credits for the renovation. The club could not afford the rent terms and thus vacated the space.<ref name="CRRC"/> In late 2019, the museum center opened the space for a few weeks for the holiday season, staffed by Cincinnati Railroad Club volunteers. The club plans to raise money to have the space open more often in the next five years.<ref name="TA"/>

====Foodservice spaces====
{{multiple image|total_width=360|image1=CUT HABS lunchroom.jpg|image2=Cincinnati - Cincinnati Union Terminal (OHPTC) - 47689124861.jpg|footer=Lunchroom, c. 1933 and 2019}}
The Rookwood tea room is decorated entirely in [[Rookwood Pottery]] tiles. It is located directly off of the Rotunda, and is currently a [[Graeter's]] ice cream parlor. The room opened in 1933 as a parlor for tea, coffee, and light snacks. It operated as a [[USO]] center during World War II, and afterward was used for different functions, including foodservice and as a game room. In 1980, the room became a GD Ritzy's ice cream and chili parlor. When the museum center opened, the space became a [[United Dairy Farmers]] ice cream shop. In December 2018, the room became a Graeter's parlor.<ref name="Graeter"/><ref name="CM 1991"/> The room was designed by William E. Hentschel of the Rookwood Pottery Company, and utilized mint green, pale gray, and mauve tiles. The room has partitioned seating, and designs with dragonflies and flowers.<ref name="CMC-art"/>

The south side of the main level has a kitchen, dining room, and lunchroom. The lunchroom, now known as the [[History of Cincinnati|Losantiville]] Dining Room, has relatively high yellow Verona marble walls, with a band of green above it, and a chocolate-brown ceiling. The countertops used Vermont [[verd antique]]; stools were aluminum and red leather.<ref name="RA"/> The lunchroom featured 22 murals, restored in the 2018 renovation; they had been removed around the 1980s to prevent further damage. The ceiling mural in the room's vestibule was also cleaned, and new green terrazzo was installed in the floor to show where the serpentine lunch counters were.<ref name="Bourdelle"/> The dining room had a large ceiling mural depicting a map of Cincinnati and neighboring parts of Kentucky. The kitchen and dining room were initially separated by a very early iteration of an [[automatic door]].<ref name="Drucker"/>

====Other interior spaces====
[[File:Newsreel Theater CUT.jpg|thumb|Theater]]
A small 118-seat theater is at the entrance of the terminal.<ref name="2018 restore" /> It reopened around 1991 as the Scripps Howard Newsreel Theater, showing free features, newsreels, and a video history of the terminal.<ref name="CM 1991"/> It uses white and black marble walls, with linoleum carvings on either side of the main screen.<ref name="Drucker"/> It originally had a mulberry-color carpet.<ref name="Condit"/> In the 2016-2018 renovation, the original seats were cleaned and repaired, and a new projector and sound system was installed.<ref name="2018 restore"/>

The north side of the main level included terminal company offices, also present in spaces above the checking lobby.<ref name="RA"/>

The men's and women's waiting rooms both used distinctive marbles, and featured wainscoting, with the walls above made of plywood or flexwood showing the natural grain, or in designs. The men's room walls feature a railroad motif, using [[zebrawood]], walnut, and holly; the women's lounge had panels of zebra and [[Arbutus menziesii|madrone wood]]. The rooms featured aluminum and leather-backed seats. Both waiting rooms had connecting bathrooms with marble walls and several showers.<ref name="RA"/><ref name="Condit"/>

The checking lobby is a space behind the rotunda. It was originally an intermediate lobby between the rotunda and the train concourse, and served passengers with baggage checking on the north side and parcel checking on the south side. The space also included or led to restrooms, telephone booths, a shoeshine room, barber shop, newsstand, train bulletins, and a soda fountain. The upper portion of the walls are decorated with two Reiss murals depicting the terminal's construction and opening.<ref name="Cincy 1979"/>

The president's office is circular, with flexwood walls and cork floors. A design above the doorway has a depiction of Union Terminal created from inlaid wood, including a working electric clock. The room also has a [[Kasota stone]] fireplace, above which lies a map of the United States using inlaid wood; each wood panel is indigenous to the state it depicts.<ref name="Interior details"/>

The terminal also opened with a drug store, beauty parlor, barber shop, men's clothing store, gift shop, and a small hospital.<ref name="StLouis"/>

{{clear}}
;Original features
<gallery widths="120px" heights="120px" perrow="8" mode="packed">
File:CUT Pictorial History 04.jpg|Vestibule
File:CUT HABS men's room.jpg|Men's Room
File:Main Dining Room Entrance CUT.jpg|Dining Room entrance
File:Cincinnati Union Terminal - RA - 23.jpg|Checking Lobby
File:Secretary's Office CUT.jpg|Secretary's Office
File:CUT HABS President Office 03.jpg|President's Office
</gallery>
;Modern and restored spaces
<gallery widths="110px" heights="110px" perrow="8" mode="packed">
File:Cincinnati Union Terminal 31.jpg|Cincinnati Dining Room
File:Cincinnati Union Terminal 47.jpg|Rookwood tea room
File:Cincinnati Union Terminal 43.jpg|[[Public Landing, Cincinnati|Public Landing]] recreation
File:Cincinnati Union Terminal 42.jpg|Cincinnati in Motion exhibit
File:Cincinnati Union Terminal 41.jpg|Checking Lobby
File:Cincinnati Union Terminal 39.jpg|Women's Room
</gallery>

===Artwork===
Cincinnati Union Terminal features works of art throughout its interior spaces. The works of art originally included 23 mosaic murals,<ref name="Andrews"/> totaling {{convert|18150|sqft}},<ref name="CMC-art"/> making it the largest collection of secular mosaics in the United States in 1933.<ref name="CM 1990"/>

The terminal's interior features numerous works by German-American artist [[Winold Reiss]]. Reiss was commissioned to design and create two large [[mosaic]] murals depicting the [[history of Cincinnati, Ohio|history of Cincinnati]] and history of the United States for the rotunda, two murals for the baggage checking lobby, two murals for the departing and arriving train boards, 16 smaller murals for the train concourse representing local industries, and a large world map mural. Reiss spent roughly two years in the design and creation of the murals.<ref name="81yrs"/>

The murals are often compared to works of the [[Federal Art Project]], sponsored by the [[Works Progress Administration]], however the Reiss murals predate the Federal Art Project by several years.<ref name="NRHP"/>

====Rotunda murals====
{{multiple image
|align=right|direction=vertical|width=280|header=Rotunda murals
|image1=Cincinnati Union 10.jpg|caption1=South mural, depicting US history
|image2=Cincinnati Union 08.jpg|caption2=North mural, depicting Cincinnati history
}}
The rotunda murals measure {{convert|105x22|ft}}; when created they were among the largest works of art in the US. The south mural (on the left side of the rotunda from the entrance) depicts US history, while the north mural (on the right side of the rotunda) depicts the history of the city of Cincinnati. Reiss explained that the south mural symbolizes the country's development from Native American inhabitance to the late industrial era, with a history of transportation in the background. The mural showed Native Americans of the [[Blackfoot Confederacy]], a group that Reiss himself joined for months in 1920 and painted for years following. The pioneer family depicted symbolizes "the courage and fortitude of the man; the loyalty and love of the mother; the wondering romance of the past and future America in the eyes of the boy".<ref name="CM 1991"/>

The Cincinnati mural, on the north side of the rotunda, is set in the [[Ohio River Valley]]. The figures represent exploration, agricultural development, shipbuilding, and industry. Cincinnati's [[Fort Washington (Ohio)|Fort Washington]] is shown in the background at the top right, while the evolution of Ohio River shipping and Cincinnati in the 1930s fills the rest of the background. Above the 1930s skyline is Reiss' imagination of the future city. The only prominent figure is [[Arthur St. Clair]], who named Cincinnati, at the third from the right. The other figures are deliberately meant to be common people. Reiss used family members (including sons and a brother), local construction workers, and studio models for the mural. The African American laborers were drawn from Union Terminal construction workers, while the Blackfeet natives were copied from sketches Reiss made earlier while visiting the group.<ref name="CM 1991"/> One of Reiss's studies for the mural is displayed in the mezzanine level of the Cincinnati History Museum.<ref name="81yrs"/>

====World map mural====
[[File:CUT HABS train concourse 02.jpg|thumb|left|Map mural lost in the concourse's demolition]]
The world map mural was {{convert|70x16|ft}}, weighing 22.4 tons. It included five decorative clocks made of tile, together representing five of the United States's time zones: Pacific, Mountain, Central, Eastern, and Atlantic. The United States was depicted in the center, divided into the time zones. Major cities were spelled out in the terminal's Art Deco typeface; Cincinnati was spelled largest. The mural also included two [[Nicolosi globular projection]]s of the world, with the Americas on the left side and Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia on the right. The mural was demolished along with the train concourse in 1974; due to its size, the cost of saving it was estimated at $100,000 (${{inflation|US|100000|1974|r=-2|fmt=c}} in {{Inflation-year|US}}{{Inflation-fn|US}}). All of the clocks remain, except the Eastern time clock.<ref name="Clocks"/>

The original Winold Reiss study for the mural survives, created in 1931-32 and measuring {{convert|5|ft|2|in}} by {{convert|19|ft|9|in}}. The study is a work in progress, showing the process and decisions taken to complete the work; it was not completed as his other studies were.<ref name="map"/> The painting was one of several offered as a donation from a private collector to the [[Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art]] at [[Cornell University]]. Chief Curator Ellen Avril, a Cincinnati native, recognized the work and recommended donating it to the Cincinnati Museum Center instead. The donation to the Cincinnati Museum Center was accepted in 2013 and the mural was moved to the entrance to the Cincinnati History Museum.<ref name="81yrs"/><ref name="Avril1"/> In 2014, Avril assisted with another donation to the terminal: seven Winold Reiss oil paintings of different people, four are figures in the south mural of the rotunda; three are figures in the south mural of the former baggage checking lobby.<ref name="Avril2"/>

====Industrial murals====
[[File:Ault & Weiborg - Winold Reiss.png|thumb|Ink-making mural at the [[Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport]]]]
{{see also|Winold Reiss industrial murals}}

Reiss also created a set of sixteen murals depicting Cincinnati industries, created for the train concourse. Since the concourse's demolition in 1974, fourteen of the works have been moved numerous times. Currently five of these murals are at the [[Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport]] and nine are at the [[Duke Energy Convention Center]]. Two of the murals were initially installed in a still-existing section of Union Terminal; these murals remain in the building.<ref name="Gorgeous"/>

====Construction murals====
[[File:Union Terminal Construction Mosaic, Cincinnati Union Terminal, Queensgate, Cincinnati, OH (46615913355).jpg|thumb|South mural, depicting the city mayor, manager, and Union Terminal president at the terminal's completion]]

Two Reiss murals are located in the checking lobby, by the current entrance to the Omnimax theater and historically an intermediate space between the rotunda and train concourse. The lobby was where passengers would check their baggage and parcels before traveling. The murals measure {{convert|13x30|ft}}, and depict seven people who played a significant role in the terminal's development and construction. The south mural, left to right, features [[Russell Wilson (American politician)|Russell Wilson]] (Cincinnati mayor at the project's completion in 1933), H. A. Worcester (first Union Terminal Co. president), and [[Clarence A. Dykstra]] (city manager in 1933). The north mural features, left to right, [[Murray Seasongood]] (mayor at the project's start in 1929), [[Clarence O. Sherrill]] (city manager in 1929), Henry M. Waite (chief engineer for the Union Terminal Co.), and George Dent Crabbs (founder of the Union Terminal Company).<ref name="CM 1991"/><ref name="Cincy 1979"/>

====Other murals====
Reiss made two murals to decorate space above the arrivals and departures chalkboards at the head of the train concourse. After the concourse's demolition, they were moved to each side of the entrance of the Cincinnati History Library, on the mezzanine level (the space is now occupied by the Holocaust & Humanity Center). The arrivals board featured an oncoming [[New York Central Hudson]] locomotive, and the departure board featured a departing [[observation car]] typical of the time. These murals were spared from demolition. From 1989 to 1991, to make room for the Omnimax theater under construction, the train murals were relocated to the mezzanine.<ref name="CM 1991"/><ref name="Drucker"/>

Pierre Bourdelle, son of renowned French sculptor [[Antoine Bourdelle]], was also commissioned to create artwork for the terminal. He painted {{convert|5496|sqft}} of works, the largest single project of his career.<ref name="Bourdelle"/> The works included a jungle-themed mural of linoleum panels, painted and lacquered,<ref name="Exhibition"/> for the women's lounge, and works for the men's lounge, baggage checking area, meeting spaces, and the executive offices.<ref name="Cincy Museum 75"/> He also painted 22 murals for the lunchroom, the current Losantiville Dining Room. The murals depict live animals, fruits, vegetables, bread, and other food. They were removed around the 1980s due to damage from nicotine, soot, and dirt, and were restored and re-hung in 2018 during the terminal's renovation. The murals once again decorate the room's [[frieze]]. The ceiling mural in the room's vestibule was also cleaned, and a small patch was left uncleaned to show the extent of the restoration.<ref name="Bourdelle"/>

===Innovations, reception, and legacy===
The terminal is widely considered the United States' finest example of railway architecture, and one of the last grand train stations in the country.<ref name="RDST"/> The terminal was designed with a large amount of interior and exterior art, unusual for train stations at the time, intended to set Union Terminal apart and make it a model of modern Cincinnati. The commission was one of the largest of the time period.<ref name="map"/> As well, the dome was the largest unsupported half-dome at the time of opening.<ref name="Fanfare"/>

The terminal is popularly recognized by the American public; it was the 45th most popular work of architecture in the United States in the American Institute of Architects' 2006-2007 survey [[America's Favorite Architecture]]. It was also recognized in the survey as the most popular work of architecture in the state of Ohio.<ref name="AFA"/>

==In popular culture==
Union Terminal inspired the design of the Hall of Justice, a fictional [[Justice League]] headquarters appearing in comic books, television, and other media published by [[DC Comics]]. The Hall of Justice first appeared in the 1970s animated series ''[[Super Friends]]''. The show was produced by [[Hanna-Barbera]], a division of Cincinnati-based [[Taft Broadcasting]]. One of the animators, Al Gmuer, likely visited the terminal while attending meetings, and confirmed he was inspired by the terminal in designing the superhero headquarters.<ref name="Enquirer Shebar"/><ref name="SuperFriends"/><ref name="AutoCA-1"/> It will appear in the 2025 film ''[[Superman (2025 film)|Superman]]''.<ref name="Superman">{{Cite web |last=David Wysong, Haadiza Ogwude, and Killian Baarlaer |date=2024-07-12 |title=New 'Superman' movie likely filming in Cincinnati next week. What we know |url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2024/07/12/is-superman-legacy-filming-cincinnati-museum-center/74383809007/ |access-date=2024-07-16 |website=Cincinnati.com}}</ref>

Union Terminal was also featured in the 1996 DC comic book series ''[[Terminal City (comics)|Terminal City]]''.<ref name="TerminalCity">{{cite web|last=Kaufman|first=Gil|title=Meanwhile at The Hall of Justice...|work=Cincinnati Experience|url=https://www.thecincinnatiexperience.com/posts/cincinnati-ohio-home-of-justice-league-HQ|date=January 22, 2018|access-date=April 24, 2020}}</ref>

In 2023, the station was featured on a [[USPS]] [[Forever stamp]] in a five-stamp "Railroad Stations" series. The stamp illustrations were made by Down the Street Designs, and Derry Noyes served as the art director.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 24, 2022 |title=U.S. Postal Service Reveals Stamps for 2023 |work=United States Postal Service |url=https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2022/1024-usps-reveals-stamps-for-2023.htm |access-date=October 26, 2022}}</ref>

==History==
{{main|History of Cincinnati Union Terminal}}
[[File:CUT HABS construction.jpg|thumb|Structural framing of the terminal's dome]]
{{multiple image|align=right|total_width=380|perrow=2|image1=CUT drawing 01.jpg|image2="CUT" June 1929 04.jpg|footer=June 1929 sketches: rotunda and concourse}}

===Background, planning, and construction===
Cincinnati was a major center of railroad traffic in the late 19th and early 20th century. However, Cincinnati's intercity passenger traffic was split among five stations which were cramped and prone to flooding from the Ohio River.<ref name="Rose, Linda"/> After the Great Flood of 1884, railroad presidents began seeking one major terminal located far from the river.<ref name="CAD"/> Alderman [[Robert J. O'Brien]] was also an advocate for a unified railway station for the city.<ref>{{Cite news |date=15 November 1909 |title=Council has Plan for the City to Build Depot |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/761290052/ |work=[[The Cincinnati Post]] |pages=2}}</ref> During the midst of planning, [[World War I]] and the [[Depression of 1920–21]] interrupted efforts to create the union station. An agreement for a union station among the seven railroads that served Cincinnati and the city itself was not achieved until July 1927.<ref name="Waite"/> The seven railroads – the [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]]; [[Chesapeake and Ohio Railway]]; [[New York Central Railroad]] (through its subsidiary, the [[Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway]], or "the Big Four"); [[Louisville and Nashville Railroad]]; [[Norfolk and Western Railway]]; [[Pennsylvania Railroad]]; and the [[Southern Railway (U.S.)|Southern Railway]] – selected a site for their new station in the [[West End, Cincinnati|West End]], near the [[Mill Creek (Ohio)|Mill Creek]].<ref name="Waite"/>

The architectural firm [[Fellheimer & Wagner]] was commissioned to design the terminal in June 1928.<ref name="DOE"/> The firm first released conservative plans with Gothic attributes in June 1929.<ref name="Exhibition"/> The design evolved toward its final Art Deco design between 1931 and 1932.<ref name="Exhibition"/> Art Deco was chosen with its proposed cost savings in mind, as well as its liveliness, color, and modern decoration.<ref name="Exhibition"/>

The Union Terminal Company was created on July 14, 1927, to build the terminal complex and other related transportation improvements.<ref name="Waite"/><ref name="Condit"/> Construction began in 1928 with the [[regrading]] of the Mill Creek valley to a point nearly level with the surrounding city, an effort that required {{convert|5.5|e6cuyd|e6m3|abbr=off|sp=us}} of landfill.<ref name="RA"/> Other work included the construction of mail and express terminals, an engine terminal, power house, [[coach yard]], [[viaduct]]s over the Mill Creek, and the railroad approaches to Union Terminal.<ref name="RA"/> Construction on the terminal building itself began in August 1929, shortly before the [[Great Depression]].<ref name="RDST"/> Construction was finished six months ahead of schedule;<ref name="Drucker"/> its final cost was $41.5&nbsp;million.<ref name="Cincy 1979"/> The terminal was put into emergency operation on March 19, 1933, because another Ohio River flood forced the closure of four train stations in the city.<ref name="2003CUT"/> The official opening of the station was on March 31, 1933. At this event, B&O director [[John J. Cornwell]] notably stated that passenger stations were declining in use, and that the building's completion came after its need had passed.<ref name="75th"/><ref name="Dedication"/>

===Operation and decline===
[[File:Union Terminal 1945.jpg|thumb|Christmastime crowd, 1945]]
Union Terminal opened during the Great Depression, a time of decline in train travel. Its early years therefore experienced relatively low passenger traffic.<ref name="temple"/> By 1939, local newspapers were already describing the station as a [[white elephant]].<ref name="Rose, Linda"/> While it had a brief revival in the 1940s, because of World War II, it declined in use through the 1950s into the 1960s, as passengers had taken to affordable individual automobiles and airplanes for long-distance travel. In the late 1950s the Union Terminal Company began searching for other uses for the building.<ref name="ScienceCenter"/> Train service decreased from 51 per day in 1953 to 24 per day in 1962. In June 1963, eight proposals for the space were made public: a railroad museum; transportation center for air, bus and rail lines; court building; convention center; Air Force museum; museum of science and industry; private industry; and a shopping center.<ref name="2003CUT"/> In 1968, the Cincinnati Science Center opened in Union Terminal, though due to financial difficulties, the museum closed in 1970.<ref name="ScienceCenter"/>

===Abandonment and partial demolition===
[[File:Union Terminal 10-28-1972.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.7|Arrivals chalkboard on October 28, 1972]]
[[Amtrak]] took over most passenger service in the United States in 1971, and cut back Cincinnati's service to just two routes a day, subsequently reduced to just one.<ref name="Rose, Linda"/> As this did not even begin to justify the use of such a large facility, Amtrak also scheduled the terminal to close in October 1972, after 18 months of Amtrak service. The terminal would this be the first major station it abandoned in favor of a new station.<ref name="HollandKJ"/> The scheduled closure left the terminal's fate uncertain, leading multiple efforts to bring the topic to public attention in mid-to-late October 1972.<ref name="AutoDC-1"/> On October 11, 1972, the Ohio Historical Society nominated the terminal for the [[National Register of Historic Places]], with a note of emergency as Southern Railway planned to demolish the terminal; the nomination was approved 20 days later.<ref name="NRHP"/> The last passenger train departed on October 28, 1972,<ref name="CM 1991"/> and Amtrak abandoned the terminal and opened a [[Cincinnati River Road station|smaller station]] nearby on the following day.<ref name="Rose, Linda"/> The Union Terminal Company was left with an empty building, no income, and significant debt. It sold the building and rail yard to [[Southern Railway (US)|Southern Railway]], which was expanding its freight operations. The railroad turned the passenger yard into a freight yard, and planned on removing the terminal's train concourse to allow additional height for its [[Piggyback (transportation)#Rail|piggyback]] operations. The Southern Railway announced the demolition plans and allowed interested parties time to remove the concourse's murals.<ref name="Exhibition"/>

In January 1973, the Revive Union Terminal Committee picketed a Southern Railway board member's house, the city commissioner refused to issue a wrecking permit for the terminal, and further public events were planned.<ref name="Jan1973"/> On May 15, 1973, the [[Cincinnati City Council]]'s Urban Development and Planning Committee voted 3–1 to designate Union Terminal for preservation as a Cincinnati [[List of Cincinnati Local Historic Landmarks|Local Historic Landmark]], preventing Southern Railway from destroying the entire building. In 1974, the Southern Railway tore down most of the train concourse. Before this, the city removed fourteen Reiss industrial murals; they were transported and installed at the [[Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport]]. A [[grassroots]] campaign named "Save the Terminal" raised the $400,000 needed to save the works, though it could not raise sufficient funds to save the map mural at the west wall of the concourse, which was destroyed.<ref name="CM 1991"/> Several plans were floated for reuse of the building in the 1970s, including as a local transit hub or arts school.<ref name="Rose, Linda"/> In August 1975, the City of Cincinnati purchased the terminal and searched for tenants.<ref name="1975 purchase"/> Three developers proposed plans, and the city chose the Joseph Skilken Organization, a [[Columbus, Ohio]]-based real estate developer.<ref name="2003CUT"/>

The Skilken Organization initially proposed "Oz" or the "Land of Oz", a shopping mall with an ice skating rink and bowling alley. The ice skating and bowling never materialized, but the shopping center's retail and restaurants began installation in 1978.<ref name="2003CUT"/> Skilken invested about $20 million in renovating the terminal.<ref name="Oz"/> In 1977, the terminal was designated a U.S. [[National Historic Landmark]].<ref name="GreatAm2"/> On August 4, 1980, the mall had its opening celebration, with 40 tenants. At its peak, the mall had 7,800 to 8,000 visitors per day and had 54 vendors.<ref name="2003CUT"/> The [[Early 1980s recession in the United States|recession of the early 1980s]] hurt the mall; interest rates quickly grew from 6 to 22 percent.<ref name="Oz"/> In 1981, the first tenant moved out; by 1982, the number of tenants had fallen to 21. In August 1982, the Cincinnati Museum of Health, Science and Industry opened in the terminal. Oz closed in 1984, but its anchor — [[Loehmann's]] Department Store in the center of the Rotunda — remained open until the following year.<ref name="2003CUT"/>

===Museum operation and rail service===
[[File:Cincinnati - Union Terminal (OHPTC) - 35715421702.jpg|thumb|upright|Deteriorating service hallways before the 2016–18 renovation]]
In the early 1980s, the Cincinnati Historical Society and Cincinnati Museum of Natural History began to search for larger spaces.<ref name="Gateway"/> They eventually decided to join in occupying space in Union Terminal.<ref name="Oz"/> To fund the necessary renovations, Hamilton County voters approved a $33 million bond levy in May 1986. Other funding came from the state of Ohio ($8 million) the city of Cincinnati ($3 million), and more than 3,000 Cincinnati individuals, corporations and foundations.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Gateway to the City|url=https://www.cincymuseum.org/gateway-to-the-city/|access-date=2021-01-24|website=Cincinnati Museum Center|language=en-US}}</ref> The renovation turned some {{convert|200000|sqft}} of underground space, as well as the terminal's taxi and bus ramps, into exhibition space. The main concourse was restored, retail space was refurbished, and the theater was restored. The entrance to the train concourse was renovated into the Omnimax theater, and the men's lounge became Amtrak's waiting room and ticket counter.<ref name="HollandKJ"/>

The museum opened on November 10, 1990. The original members of the museum center were the Cincinnati Historical Society Library, Cincinnati History Museum, Cincinnati Museum of Natural History, and the Robert D. Lindner Family Omnimax Theater.<ref name="2003CUT" /> The center became the fourth-largest attraction in the area, behind the [[Cincinnati Reds]], [[Kings Island]], and the [[Cincinnati Zoo]].<ref name="CM 1991" /> The museum center renovations also allowed Amtrak to restore service to Union Terminal via the tri-weekly ''Cardinal'' train in 1991.<ref name="CM 1991" /> In 1995, the entities officially merged to create the Cincinnati Museum Center, also joined by the Cinergy Children's Museum in October 1998.<ref name="2003CUT" />

In 2004, county residents approved a levy for the building's operating costs and capital repairs. In 2009, they extended the levy to fund further repairs,<ref name="Gateway" /> and the museum center began to restore the terminal's southwest wing of the terminal.

In July 2016, the museum shut down for the first renovation of the entire building, a $228 million effort that would last until November 2018.<ref name="reno" /><ref name="Oz" /> In July 2018, Amtrak stopped staffing 15 of its stations, including Cincinnati. Since the completion of the renovation project, Amtrak allows customers to check bags trainside.<ref name="GreatAm" /> The building and museum center had their reopening ceremony on November 17, 2018.<ref name="reopened" />

In January 2019, the terminal gained another museum as a tenant, the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust and Humanity Center, in the former space of the History Library.<ref name="HoloCenter" />

==References==
=== Explanatory notes ===
{{Reflist|group=N}}

=== Citations ===
{{reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="CIN">{{cite web|title=Cincinnati, Ohio: Union Terminal|publisher=Amtrak|url=https://www.amtrak.com/stations/cin|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="2003CUT">{{cite journal|title=Cincinnati Union Terminal, 1933-2003|journal=Ohio Valley History|publisher=Filson Historical Society, Cincinnati Museum Center|volume=2|number=2|url=http://library.cincymuseum.org/topics/u/files/unionterminal/cin-003.pdf|date=2002|access-date=July 8, 2019|archive-date=November 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112022001/http://library.cincymuseum.org/topics/u/files/unionterminal/cin-003.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
<ref name="ridership">{{cite web|title=Fact sheet: Amtrak in Ohio|publisher=Rail Passengers Association|url=https://www.railpassengers.org/site/assets/files/1208/oh.pdf|date=2020|access-date=February 4, 2021}}</ref>
<ref name="visits">{{cite news|title=Cincinnati Museum Center reports highest attendance in 29 years|newspaper=Fox 19|url=https://www.fox19.com/2020/01/23/cincinnati-museum-center-reports-highest-attendance-years/|date=January 22, 2020|access-date=January 28, 2020}}</ref>
<ref name="RA">{{cite journal|last=Lacher|first=Walter S.|title=Cincinnati's New Union Terminal Now in Service |journal=Railway Age|volume=94|number=16|pages=574–590|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nHZCAQAAIAAJ|date=1933|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="Guide">{{cite book|last=Ingles|first=J. David|title=Guide to North American Railroad Hot Spots|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1pniJRlKXMQC|publisher=Kalmbach Publishing Co.|date=2001|access-date=July 8, 2019|isbn=9780890243732}}</ref>
<ref name="Amtk sched">{{cite web|title=Cardinal|publisher=Amtrak|url=https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/projects/dotcom/english/public/documents/timetables/Cardinal-Schedule-040819.pdf|date=April 8, 2019|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="Amtk rail">{{cite news|last=LaFleur|first=Pat|title=Amtrak to Chicago: Advocates hope train service can grow from limited options Cincinnati has now|newspaper=WCPO-TV|url=https://www.wcpo.com/news/insider/amtrak-in-cincinnati-heres-what-its-like-to-ride-the-rail-to-chicago|date=March 2, 2017|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="buses">{{cite web|title=Plan My Visit |website=CMC |publisher=Cincinnati Museum Center |url=https://www.cincymuseum.org/visit/ |access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="buses2">{{cite web|title=49: Fairmount–English Woods|publisher=Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority|url=https://www.go-metro.com/uploads/May%2026%20Service%20Change/RT49.pdf|date=May 26, 2019|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="riverrd1991">{{cite news|title=Train Station Moving|newspaper=The Cincinnati Enquirer|page=12|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3634675/19910713cinti_enquirerpage_12train/|date=July 13, 1991|access-date=January 18, 2020}}</ref>
<ref name="1952catalog">{{cite book|title=Official Guide to the Railways|publisher=National Railway Publication Co.|url=https://timetableworld.com/timetable_catalog.php?cat=7|date=August 1952|access-date=January 18, 2020|archive-date=September 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912152443/https://timetableworld.com/timetable_catalog.php?cat=7|url-status=dead}} See also [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ol3tPMh4ipPJb4z8MpnG6mfkevbFXA3omM0O9eEDHuo/edit "Cincinnati Union Terminal 1952" table].</ref>
<ref name="PRRtrains">{{cite web|last=Baer|first=Christopher T.|title=Named Trains of the PRR Including Through Services|website=The Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society|url=http://www.prrths.com/newprr_files/Hagley/PRR%20NAMED%20TRAINS.pdf|date=September 8, 2009|access-date=January 18, 2020}}</ref>
<ref name="GreatAm">{{cite web|title=Cincinnati, OH (CIN)|website=Great American Stations|publisher=Amtrak|url=http://www.greatamericanstations.com/stations/cincinnati-oh-cin/|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="Rose, Linda">{{cite book|last1=Rose|first1=Linda C.|last2=Rose|first2=Patrick|last3=Yungblut|first3=Gibson|title=Cincinnati Union Terminal: The Design and Construction of an Art Deco Masterpiece|publisher=Cincinnati Railroad Club, Inc.|date=October 1999|isbn=0-9676125-0-0}}</ref>
<ref name="HoloCenter">{{cite web|url=https://www.citybeat.com/arts-culture/article/21045309/with-local-angles-and-a-hopeful-focus-cincinnatis-holocaust-humanity-center-finds-new-ways-to-tell-of-the-horrors-of-the-holocaust |title=With Local Angles and a Hopeful Focus, Cincinnati's Holocaust & Humanity Center Finds New Ways to Tell of the Horrors of the Holocaust |publisher=Citybeat.com |date=2019-01-29|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="biz">{{cite news|last=Caproni|first=Erin|title=Cincinnati Museum Center expands dining, retail – and adds beer|newspaper=Cincinnati Business Courier|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/08/24/cincinnati-museum-center-expands-dining-retail-and.html|date=August 24, 2018|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="reno">{{cite news|title=Cincinnati Museum Center reopening: What you need to know|author1=Carol Motsinger |newspaper=Cincinnati Enquirer |url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2018/11/07/cincinnati-union-terminal-its-reopening-soon-heres-what-you-need-know/1912503002/|date=November 11, 2018}}</ref>
<ref name="CM 1991">{{cite magazine |title=The Museum Center at Union Terminal |magazine=Cincinnati Magazine |volume=25 |number=2 |at=Supplement after p. 40 |publisher=CM Media |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZusCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA3 |date=November 1991 |access-date=2019-07-18}}</ref>
<ref name="streetview">{{cite web|last=Sarason|first=Mike|title=Google enables Street View virtual tour of Cincinnati Museum Center|work=Soapbox Cincinnati|url=https://www.soapboxmedia.com/innovationnews/061714-Google-Cultural-Institute-Cincinnati-Museum-Center.aspx|date=June 16, 2014|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="RDST">{{cite book|last=Solomon|first=Brian|title=Railway Depots, Stations & Terminals|publisher=Voyageur Press|page=127|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZoWqCgAAQBAJ|date=2015|access-date=July 8, 2019|isbn=9780760348901}}</ref>
<ref name="Condit">{{cite book|last=Condit|first=Carl W.|author-link=Carl W. Condit|title=The Railroad and the City: A Technological and Urbanistic History of Cincinnati|url=https://archive.org/details/railroadcitytech0000cond|url-access=registration|publisher=Ohio State University Press|date=1977|hdl=1811/24811|isbn=9780814202654}}</ref>
<ref name="Exhibition">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WI1PAAAAMAAJ|title=Art Deco and the Cincinnati Union Terminal: An Exhibition Organized by the Art History Department, University of Cincinnati, in Cooperation with the Contemporary Arts Center, January 11 to February 10, 1973|publisher=Contemporary Arts Center|date=1973|access-date=2019-07-17}}</ref>
<ref name="CAD">{{cite book|last1=Rolfes|first1=Steven J.|last2=Weise|first2=Douglas R.|title=Cincinnati Art Deco|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c3XxAwAAQBAJ|date=2014|access-date=July 8, 2019|isbn=9781439646120}}</ref>
<ref name="Interior details">{{cite web|title=Cincinnati Union Terminal: Photographs, Written Historical and Descriptive Data|publisher=Historic American Buildings Survey, National Park Service|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/oh/oh0000/oh0024/data/oh0024data.pdf|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="Drive">{{cite web|last=Vanderbilt|first=Angela|title=Ezzard Charles Drive, the Making of a Parkway|publisher=University of Cincinnati Libraries|url=https://libapps.libraries.uc.edu/liblog/2013/06/ezzard-charles-drive-the-making-of-a-parkway/|date=June 25, 2013|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="MusicHall">{{cite book|last1=Morris|first1=Jeff|last2=Morris|first2=Michael A.|title=Haunted Cincinnati and Southwest Ohio|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QMZ9eYhgWj8C|date=2009|access-date=July 8, 2019|isbn=9780738560335}}</ref>
<ref name="NRHP">{{cite book|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form|series=File Unit: National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records: Ohio, 1964 - 2013|publisher=National Park Service, National Archives|url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71989027|date=October 31, 1972|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="DOE">{{cite report|title=Planning for a Sustainable Future of the Cincinnati Union Terminal|publisher=Cincinnati Museum Center|date=April 30, 2012|doi=10.2172/1064404|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc835419/m2/1/high_res_d/1064404.pdf |last1=Author |first1=Not Given }}</ref>
<ref name="Cincy 1979">{{cite book|title=Cincinnati: A Guide to the Queen City and Its Neighbors|publisher=Wiesen-Hart Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g9vJrsMSnEQC|date=1943|access-date=July 8, 2019|isbn=9781603540513}}</ref>
<ref name="StLouis">{{cite news|title=Cincinnati's New Union Station|newspaper=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |page=62 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5870492/19330409st_louis_dispatchst_louis/ |date=April 9, 1933|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="sqft">{{cite web|last=London|first=John|title=Union Terminal supporters 'cautiously optimistic' about Issue 8's approval|work=WLWT5|url=https://www.wlwt.com/article/union-terminal-supporters-cautiously-optimistic-about-issue-8-s-approval/3547445 |date=October 7, 2014|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="COE-04-29">{{cite journal|last=Niermann|first=Ted|title=The Cincinnati Union Passenger Terminal|journal=The Co-Operative Engineer|publisher=College of Engineering and Commerce of the University of Cincinnati|volume=8|number=3|url=https://drc.libraries.uc.edu/bitstream/handle/2374.UC/215/v08n03.pdf?sequence=2|date=April 1929|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="Woodward">{{cite journal|title=Ticket Agent C. W. Woodward Is "The Traveler's Friend" at Cincinnati Terminal|journal=The Pullman News|publisher=The Pullman Company|volume=31|number=3|pages=10–11|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lg0TAAAAIAAJ|date=July 1953|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="Meeks">{{cite book|last=Meeks|first=Carroll L. V.|title=The Railroad Station: An Architectural History|url=https://archive.org/details/railroadstation00meek|url-access=registration|publisher=Yale University Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/railroadstation00meek/page/157 157]|date=1956}}</ref>
<ref name="lost">{{cite book|last=Suess|first=Jeff|title=Lost Cincinnati|publisher=The History Press|pages=51–52|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-oH8CQAAQBAJ&pg=PA51|date=2015|access-date=July 8, 2019|isbn=9781625851086}}</ref>
<ref name="Dalton">{{cite book|title=The Cincinnati Union Terminal, a Pictorial History|publisher=Gibson & Perin Co., Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015006087616|date=March 30, 1933|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="sign">{{cite web|title=Need a sign that our restoration project is coming to an end?|author=Cincinnati Museum Center |url=https://www.facebook.com/cincymuseum/photos/pcb.10156758480414287/10156758480319287/?type=3&theater  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/21901449286/10156758480319287 |archive-date=2022-02-26 |url-access=limited|date= October 18, 2018 |access-date=July 8, 2019 |via=Facebook}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
<ref name="Waite">{{cite journal|last=Waite|first=Henry M.|title=The Cincinnati Union Terminal|journal=The Military Engineer|publisher=Society of American Military Engineers|volume=24|number=136|pages=352–354 |jstor=44554944 |date=1932}}</ref>
<ref name="ramps">{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4389056/19310506cinti_enquirerpage/ |title=Driving First Pile For Railroad Station |newspaper=Cincinnati Enquirer|date=6 May 1931 |page=8|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="Helsinki">{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/101774814/|title=Terminal Was Designed to Herald a New Age|page=83|newspaper=Cincinnati Enquirer|date=1986-05-04 |access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="HollandKJ">{{cite book|last=Holland|first=Kevin J.|title=Classic American Railroad Terminals|publisher=MBI Publishing Company|url=https://archive.org/details/classicamericanr0000holl|url-access=registration|date=2001|access-date=July 8, 2019|isbn=9780760308325}}</ref>
<ref name="clock">{{cite web|title=The Cincinnati Union Terminal Clock|url=https://www.cincinnatiwatch.com/blog/the-union-terminal-clock|publisher=Cincinnati Watch Company|access-date=July 8, 2019|archive-date=August 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210805214653/https://www.cincinnatiwatch.com/blog/the-union-terminal-clock|url-status=dead}}</ref>
<ref name="Cincy Museum 75">{{cite web|url=http://library.cincymuseum.org/75th-anniversary/main.swf|title=Gateway to the City, Cincinnati Union Terminal at Seventy-Five|website=Cincinnati Historical Society|access-date=July 8, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501083544/http://library.cincymuseum.org/75th-anniversary/main.swf|archive-date=May 1, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>
<ref name="stone">{{cite book|series=Guidebook No. 7 |title=Guide to the Building Stones of Downtown Cincinnati: A Walking Tour |url=https://kb.osu.edu/bitstream/handle/1811/78490/OGS_1992_GB-7.pdf?sequence=1 |author=Joseph T. Hannibal |author2=Richard Arnold Davis |name-list-style=amp |date=1996 |orig-year=1992 |publisher=State of Ohio, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological Survey |access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="MortonGneiss">{{cite web|last=Nelson|first=Paul|title=Morton Gneiss|website=MNopedia|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society|url=http://www.mnopedia.org/thing/morton-gneiss|date=March 20, 2018|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="Stanford">{{cite journal|last=Stanford|first=Linda Oliphant|title=Railway Designs by Fellheimer and Wagner, New York to Cincinnati|journal=Queen City Heritage|publisher=Cincinnati Historical Society|volume=43|url=http://library.cincymuseum.org/topics/u/files/unionterminal/rai-003.pdf|date=Fall 1985|access-date=July 8, 2019|archive-date=December 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220041207/http://library.cincymuseum.org/topics/u/files/unionterminal/rai-003.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
<ref name="Drucker">{{cite journal|last=Drucker|first=Ned|title=The Cincinnati Union Terminal|journal=Cooperative Engineer|publisher=University of Cincinnati |volume=12 |number=3 |url=https://drc.libraries.uc.edu/bitstream/handle/2374.UC/235/v12n03.pdf?sequence=2|date=April 1933|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="whispering">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eMA7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA76 |title=Architectures of Sound: Acoustic Concepts and Parameters for Architectural Design |page=76 |publisher=Birkhäuser |date=2017-10-23 |first=Michael |last=Fowler |access-date=July 8, 2019|isbn=9783035613292 }}</ref>
<ref name="TCclock">{{cite web|title=It's Time For This Clock To Return Home To Union Terminal |first=Ann |last=Thompson |date=May 17, 2018 |url=https://www.wvxu.org/post/its-time-clock-return-home-union-terminal#stream/0 |website=Cincinnati Public Radio |access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="CRRC">{{cite web|url=http://cs.trains.com/ctr/b/mileposts/archive/2018/11/29/cut-shines-again-for-the-moment-without-tower-a.aspx |title=CUT shines again, for the moment without Tower A - Classic Trains Magazine - Railroad History, Vintage Train Videos, Steam Locomotives, Forums |publisher=Cs.trains.com |date=2018-11-29 |access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="TA">{{cite news|last=Elzie|first=Sheena|title=Rare, Historic Sight Opens Once a Year in Cincinnati By Ohio|newspaper=Spectrum News|url=https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2020/01/06/rare--historic-sight-opens-once-a-year-in-cincinnati|date=January 6, 2020|access-date=January 28, 2020}}</ref>
<ref name="Graeter">{{cite news|last=Mayhew|first=Chris|title=Rookwood room reopens with Graeter's Ice Cream at Cincinnati Museum Center|newspaper=Cincinnati Enquirer |url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/local/cincinnati/2018/12/23/2401974002/ |date=December 23, 2018|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="CMC-art">{{cite web|url=https://www.cincymuseum.org/art-of-union-terminal/ |title=The Glass Storybook and the Great Menagerie: The Art of Union Terminal |website=CMC |publisher=Cincinnati Museum Center |access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="Bourdelle">{{cite web|url=https://www.wvxu.org/post/see-union-terminals-pierre-bourdelle-murals-first-time-decades|title=See Union Terminal's Pierre Bourdelle Murals For The First Time In Decades |last=Weingartner |first=Tana |date=Nov 13, 2018 |website=Cincinnati Public Radio |access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="2018 restore">{{cite web|title=May 2018 restoration update|website=My Union Terminal|publisher=Cincinnati Museum Center|url=http://myunionterminal.com/may-2018-restoration-update/|date=May 18, 2018|access-date=July 8, 2019|archive-date=June 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190630184249/http://myunionterminal.com/may-2018-restoration-update/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
<ref name="Andrews">{{cite journal|last=Hudson|first=Carol A.|title=The Andrews Rolling Mill Mosaic Mural|journal=Bulletin of the Kenton County Historical Society|publisher=Kenton County Historical Society|url=https://kentoncountyhistoricalsociety.org/data/documents/July-August-2011.pdf|date=July–August 2011}}</ref>
<ref name="CM 1990">{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W-sCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA3 |title=Souvenir Guide to the Museum Center |magazine=Cincinnati Magazine |volume=24 |number=2 |at=Supplement after p. 40 |publisher=CM Media |date=November 1990 |access-date=2019-07-18}}</ref>
<ref name="81yrs">{{cite news |url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2013/12/20/81-year-old-map-murals-painting-to-call-museum-center-home/4149505/ |title=81-year-old Map mural's painting to call Museum Center home |newspaper=Cincinnati Enquirer |date=2013-12-20 |access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="Clocks">{{cite news |url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2014/11/01/union-terminal-mural-clocks-found-still-marking-time/18356367/ |title=Union Terminal mural clocks found, still marking time |newspaper=Cincinnati Enquirer |date=2014-11-02 |access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="map">{{cite journal|last=Massa|first=Nick|title=The Artwork of Cincinnati Union Terminal: Winold Reiss's North America Mural |journal=Ohio Valley History |publisher=The Filson Historical Society and Cincinnati Museum Center |volume=16 |number=2 |pages=60–62 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/624906/pdf |date=2016 |access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="Avril1">{{cite web|url=http://museumpublicity.com/2013/12/22/piece-of-union-terminals-history-returns-home/ |title=Piece of Union Terminal's history returns home |publisher=Museum Publicity |date=2013-12-22 |access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="Avril2">{{cite news|url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2014/03/31/mural-paintings-birthday-gift-museum-center/7145041/|title=Mural paintings birthday gift to Museum Center |newspaper=Cincinnati Enquirer |date=2014-03-31 |access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="Gorgeous">{{Cite web|url=http://www.theatlanticcities.com/arts-and-lifestyle/2013/06/cincinnatis-gorgeous-1933-attempt-woo-visitors/5863/|title=Cincinnati's Gorgeous Attempt to Woo Visitors, Circa 1933|first=David Robert|last=Weible|website=CityLab|access-date=January 30, 2020|archive-date=January 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140122104834/http://www.theatlanticcities.com/arts-and-lifestyle/2013/06/cincinnatis-gorgeous-1933-attempt-woo-visitors/5863/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
<ref name="Fanfare">{{cite journal|first=Frank |last=Mehring |url=http://muse.jhu.edu/article/699716/pdf |title=Winold Reiss and the Cincinnati Union Terminal: Fanfare for the Common Man by Gretchen Garner (review) |journal=Ohio Valley History |publisher=The Filson Historical Society and Cincinnati Museum Center |volume=18 |number=2 |pages=102–104 |date=2018 |access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="AFA">{{cite web|last=Agnese|first=Braulio|title=The People's Architecture |website=[[Architect Magazine|Architect]] |url=https://www.architectmagazine.com/design/the-peoples-architecture_o |date=March 12, 2007 |publisher=Hanley Wood Media |access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="Enquirer Shebar">{{cite news|last=Shebar|first=Alex|title=Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice...|newspaper=[[The Cincinnati Enquirer]] |publisher=[[Gannett Company]]|url=https://alexshebar.com/post/172239147/meanwhile-at-the-hall-of-justice|date=March 25, 2009 |access-date=July 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190717201044/https://alexshebar.com/post/172239147/meanwhile-at-the-hall-of-justice |archive-date=2019-07-17 |url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name="SuperFriends">{{cite news|title=The Real-Life Inspiration for the Super Friends' Hall of Justice Is in Danger|first=Grace|last=Dobush|work=[[Wired (website)|Wired]]|publisher=[[Condé Nast]]|date=October 30, 2014|access-date=July 8, 2019|url=https://www.wired.com/2014/10/super-friends-hall-of-justice/}}</ref>
<ref name="AutoCA-1">{{cite news|last=Motsinger|first=Carol|title=Justice League calls Cincinnati's Union Terminal home|newspaper=The Cincinnati Enquirer|url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/entertainment/2016/12/05/union-terminal-inspires-another-superhero-hq/95004910/|date=December 5, 2016|access-date=January 30, 2020}}</ref>
<ref name="75th">{{cite journal|last=Dawson|first=Barbara J.|title=Cincinnati Union Terminal Turns Seventy-Five |journal=Ohio Valley History |publisher=The Filson Historical Society and Cincinnati Museum Center |volume=8 |number=1 |pages=73–76 |url=http://muse.jhu.edu/article/567333/pdf |date=2008 |access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="Dedication">{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/100138547|title=Facts About The Terminal |page=2 |newspaper=Cincinnati Enquirer|date=1933-04-01 |access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="temple">{{cite web|title=Temple to Transportation – 1933–1972 |website=CMC |publisher=Cincinnati Museum Center |url=https://www.cincymuseum.org/temple-to-transportation/|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="ScienceCenter">{{cite web |url=https://www.cincymuseum.org/reinvention/ |title=Reinvention |website=CMC |publisher=Cincinnati Museum Center |access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="AutoDC-1">{{cite news|title=Union Terminal To Close Soon, But UC Prof Works to Save It |first=John |last=Prues |date=1972-10-13 |url=https://drc.libraries.uc.edu/bitstream/handle/2374.UC/749591/newsRecord_72-73_1972-10-13.pdf?sequence=13 |work=The News Record |page=3 |access-date=2019-07-19}}</ref>
<ref name="Jan1973">{{cite news|last=Slagle|first=James|title=Effort Gains Momentum To Revive Union Terminal|newspaper=The News Record |volume=60 |number=23 |url=https://drc.libraries.uc.edu/bitstream/handle/2374.UC/749607/newsRecord_72-73_1973-01-23.pdf?sequence=7 |date=January 23, 1973|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="1975 purchase">{{cite news|url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2014/07/16/owns-music-hall-union-terminal/12765747/ |title=Who owns Music Hall, Union Terminal?|newspaper=Cincinnati Enquirer|first=Dan |last=Horn |date=July 17, 2014 |access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="Oz">{{cite news|last=Hale|first=Juli|title=Decades before current $212M Museum Center face-lift, smaller renovation created a brief Land of Oz|newspaper=[[WCPO-TV]]|url=https://www.wcpo.com/news/insider/decades-before-current-212m-museum-center-face-lift-smaller-renovation-created-a-brief-land-of-oz|date=December 5, 2016|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="GreatAm2">{{cite web|title=Cultural Space & Museums: Cincinnati, OH|website=Great American Stations|publisher=Amtrak|url=https://www.greatamericanstations.com/why-invest/case-studies/cultural-space-museums-cincinnati-oh/|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="Gateway">{{cite web|title=Gateway to the City: Cincinnati Museum Center Comes to Union Terminal — 1985 to 2010 |website=CMC |publisher=Cincinnati Museum Center |url=https://www.cincymuseum.org/gateway-to-the-city/ |access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="reopened">{{cite news|url=https://www.wlwt.com/article/cincinnati-museum-center-reopens-at-union-terminal/25210300 |title=Cincinnati Museum Center reopens at Union Terminal|author1=Richard Chiles|publisher=[[WLWT]]|date=November 17, 2018}}</ref>
}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last1=Rose|first1=Linda C.|last2=Rose|first2=Patrick|last3=Yungblut|first3=Gibson|title=Cincinnati Union Terminal: The Design and Construction of an Art Deco Masterpiece|publisher=Cincinnati Railroad Club, Inc.|date=October 1999|isbn=0-9676125-0-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Condit|first=Carl W.|author-link=Carl W. Condit|title=The Railroad and the City: A Technological and Urbanistic History of Cincinnati|url=https://archive.org/details/railroadcitytech0000cond|url-access=registration|publisher=Ohio State University Press|date=1977|hdl=1811/24811|isbn=9780814202654}}

==External links==
{{external media|width=210px|float=right| video1 = ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT43GLUaifk Saving Union Terminal]'', [[WCPO-TV]], 2018}}

* {{Commons and category inline|Cincinnati Union Terminal|Cincinnati Union Terminal}}
* {{Amtrak web|CIN}}
* [http://www.cincymuseum.org Cincinnati Museum Center]
* [https://mapstreetview.com/#na9er_-1ebxnm_7i.5_5g59 Google Street View]

{{Amtrak Ohio stations}}
{{Greater Cincinnati Transportation}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in Ohio|state=collapsed}}
{{Portal bar|National Register of Historic Places|Ohio|Trains}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:1933 establishments in Ohio]]
[[Category:Cincinnati Union Terminal| ]]
[[Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1933]]
[[Category:Amtrak stations in Ohio]]
[[Category:Art Deco architecture in Ohio]]
[[Category:Former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad stations]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in Ohio]]
[[Category:Union stations in the United States]]
[[Category:Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio]]
[[Category:Rotundas (architecture)]]
[[Category:Paul Philippe Cret buildings]]
[[Category:Domes]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Cincinnati]]
[[Category:Railroad-related National Historic Landmarks]]
[[Category:West End, Cincinnati]]
[[Category:Former Chesapeake and Ohio Railway stations]]
[[Category:Former New York Central Railroad stations]]
[[Category:Former Norfolk and Western Railway stations]]
[[Category:Former Pennsylvania Railroad stations]]
[[Category:Former Louisville and Nashville Railroad stations]]
[[Category:Former Southern Railway (U.S.) stations]]
[[Category:Passenger rail transportation in Cincinnati]]
[[Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Cincinnati]]
[[Category:Holocaust museums in the United States]]
[[Category:Art Deco railway stations]]
[[Category:Cincinnati Local Historic Landmarks]]
[[Category:Railway stations in the United States closed in 1972]]