DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about El Paso Union Passenger Station. Now, when you're standin' in front of a building that shares a pedigree with one of the grandest train stations in the nation's capital, you'd best take a moment and let that sink in. This station — right here in El Paso — was built in 1904 and 1905, and it was no afterthought.
It was designed to be a center for El Paso's international railroad traffic. International. This wasn't just a place where you caught a train to the next county over.
This was a crossroads, and somebody knew it needed to look the part. The firm that got the call was none other than the noted Chicago architectural firm of Daniel H. Burnham — the same hand behind the elaborate Union Station in Washington, D.C.
Think about that pairing for a second. The capital of the United States, and El Paso, Texas. Burnham apparently saw no reason to aim low in either place.
On the ground, the men who actually built it were Buchanan and Powers, serving as general contractors, and under their direction this station rose up right here on the west Texas landscape. Now, railroads built the American West in ways that are hard to fully reckon with today — they moved people, goods, ambitions, whole futures. And the El Paso Union Passenger Station stands as a reminder of exactly that role, the railroad's hand in the early development of this city.
Some buildings just hold their ground and make you remember. This is one of them.
What the marker says
This union station was built in 1904-05 as a center for El Paso's international railroad traffic. Constructed under the direction of Buchanan and Powers, general contractors, it was designed by the noted Chicago architectural firm of Daniel H. Burnham, who also designed the elaborate Union Station in Washington, D.C. The El Paso Union Passenger Station now serves as a reminder of the railroad's role in the early development of the city. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1982