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Hub, Home, Heart
Greater H Street NE Heritage Trail
2 Gateway to The Nation's Capital
With its view of the Capitol and Senate office buildings, and with the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court just a short stroll away, Union Station truly is the gateway to the heart of the nation's government. The station is also where official Washington mixes with the local city. Before air travel became common in the 1950s, Union Station attracted enormous crowds to salute arriving presidents, watch protesters, or shriek at the Beatles disembarking for their first live American concert.
Until the early 1950s, most of downtown Washington's public accommodations were segregated. Union Station was one of the exceptions. In its dining room, African American and white patrons could sit down and eat side by side.
Traffic at Union Station peaked during World War II (1941-1945). Throngs of military men and women passed through en route to training camps and battlefronts. Civilians, especially young women, arrived to staff the enormous war effort. But as air travel expanded, Union Station's importance declined. When the station underwent major renovations in the 1980s, its grand concourse was reconfigured to hold inviting shops, restaurants, and entertainment.
The 1990s brought the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building, on this block, named for the Howard University-trained lawyer whose strategies helped end this country's legal segregation. Marshall later became the first African American Supreme Court Justice. |