Historic Sites of Manitoba: Union Railway Station (123 Main Street, Winnipeg)

This four-storey Tyndall stone Beaux Arts-style building on Main Street opposite Broadway in Winnipeg, measuring 150 feet by 375 feet, was designed by the New York City-based architects Warren and Wetmore. It was built between 1908 and 1911, with structural steel provided by Dominion Bridge Company, by the construction firm of Lyall-Mitchell as a joint venture between the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway and the Canadian Northern Railway. The cost of construction was an estimated $1,000,000.

The first train to enter the station did so on 7 August 1911 and the station opened officially 24 June 1912 after the train sheds were completed. Through the years, as one of Western Canada’s largest railway stations, it welcomed thousands of immigrants to the prairies.

In 1976, a plaque inside the rotunda was unveiled by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. A 2014 renovation project for the building’s rotunda was recognized by a Heritage Winnipeg Preservation Award.

Union Railway Station under construction (1909)
Source: Winnipeg Tribune, 12 June 1909, page 21.

A worker for Manitoba Government Telephones transports a new phone pole by the Union Station (date unknown)
Source: Rob McInnes, WP1463

View of the Union Station rotunda, taken by the Winnipeg Sales Company (circa 1918)
Source: Rob McInnes, WP1695

Waiting room in the Union Station (circa 1918)
Source: Rob McInnes, WP1461

Waiting room in the Union Station (circa 1918)
Source: Toronto Postcard Club, 2016-0075

Union Station as it appeared in a postcard (1920s)
Source: Rob McInnes, WP0634

Union Station (1995)
Source: George Penner

Union Station, as seen from the roof of the Fort Garry Hotel (2007)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough

Aerial view of Union Station (August 2021)
Source: George Penner

Interior of Union Station (August 2015)
Source: George Penner

Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.88885, W97.13456
denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

City of Winnipeg Building Permit 726/1908, City of Winnipeg Archives.

“Depot to cost million, permit issued,” Manitoba Free Press, 4 July 1908, page 5.

“New building now under way; Union Station,” Winnipeg Tribune, 17 April 1909, page 2.

“Two thousand tons of steel supplied and erected by the Dominion Bridge Co., Ltd.,” Winnipeg Tribune, 12 June 1909, page 21.

“New Union Depot will be used next Monday; everything in readiness,” Winnipeg Tribune, 31 July 1911, page 1.

“Train sheds are finished,” Winnipeg Tribune, 25 June 1912, page 8.

We thank Rob McInnes, Jason Vanderhill (Vancouver Postcard Club), Toronto Postcard Club, George Penner, and Nathan Kramer for providing images of the Union Station.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Jordan Makichuk.

Page revised: 23 February 2024

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