{"nrhp_refnum":"80000811","name":"Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal","other_names":["Los Angeles Union Station"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"800 N. Alameda St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Los Angeles","county":"Los Angeles County","state":"CA","lat":34.055752419000044,"lon":-118.2337987084276,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-11-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal (Los Angeles Union Station), a railroad passenger terminal at 800 North Alameda Street, Los Angeles, built 1936-1939 and designed by architects John and Donald B. Parkinson.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the last great passenger terminal built on a monumental scale in a major American city, combining three railroads into one stub-end terminal after decades of litigation. It is also cited as a fine blend of Streamlined Moderne and Spanish Colonial Revival design, with its original decoration and fixtures largely intact.","narrative":"Los Angeles Union Station, opened on May 7, 1939, brought the passenger and express operations of Southern Pacific, Santa Fe and Union Pacific into one terminal east of the Los Angeles Plaza. John and Donald B. Parkinson designed the main building, which stretches about 850 feet along Alameda Street under Mission tile roofs, with a 125-foot clock tower, arcades, patios and large halls paved in marble and quarry tile. Its Spanish Colonial form was chosen to harmonize with nearby El Pueblo de Los Angeles, while the detailing mixes 1930s Art Deco and Spanish motifs. The terminal ended a roughly 30-year legal fight to unify the city's rail stations and replaced separate depots whose trains ran through city streets. The site was the former Chinatown. Built as passenger rail declined, it is described as the last great American terminal of its scale, and its original fixtures and furnishings remain largely in place.","period_of_significance":"1936-1939","architect_builder":"John & Donald B. Parkinson, Architect","architectural_style":"Streamlined Moderne combined with Spanish Colonial Revival (described as \"composite transitional\", blending 1930s Art Deco and Spanish)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied; no major remodeling since construction, with cleaning and painting needed. Parts of the baggage and service areas are in reduced use or used for unrelated storage.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:32.02478-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/80000811.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000811/31ae759a94-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000811/31ae759a94-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.0","author":"David Wilson from Oak Park, Illinois, USA","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20140830_50_Los_Angeles_Union_Station_(15360153108).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">David Wilson from Oak Park, Illinois, USA</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20140830_50_Los_Angeles_Union_Station_(15360153108).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859291","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Union_Station","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q198019"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/los-angeles-county/los-angeles-union-passenger-terminal-80000811/"}