Compare the view: How Kansas City’s ‘new Union Station’ looked more than a century ago
Editor’s Note: Past|Present is a new video series from The Star that travels through time to show how scenes Kansas City depicted in vintage postcards look today. Have a postcard you’d like to share with our team? Tell us about it here.
By the 1980s, Kansas City’s Union Station was all but abandoned. A bi-state campaign to restore it brought life back to the iconic structure in 1999. A picture postcard from Hall Brothers (the forerunners of Hallmark) sold shortly after it opened in 1914 shows an exterior that’s almost identical to the same view in April 2023, a few weeks prior to the NFL Draft activities that took place there.
Looking for more Kansas City history?
- What’s in a name? Find out how why it’s called Union Station.
- Union Station is now one of Kansas City’s crown jewels, but it’s future wasn’t always so secure. Learn more about how it’s first 100 years shaped it into the icon it is today.
- You knew Union Station was awesomely pretty. Others agree. Check out the list.
- Union Station hosted the 2023 NFL Draft. See what it took to set up the giant stage in this timeplapse video.