Union Station Hotel in Nashville

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I finally had a chance to check out the Union Station Hotel in Nashville. The Union Station Nashville Yards is the city’s signature historic hotel for modern-day travelers.

HISTORIC FEATURES STILL PRESENT INCLUDE:

Heavy-stone Richardsonian-Romanesque design

A clock tower featuring a statue of Mercury, the Roman god of shopkeepers and merchants, travelers, and transporters of goods 70-foot, barrel-vaulted lobby ceiling, featuring gold-leaf medallions, and 100-year-old, original luminous prism stained glass, Marble floors, oak-accented doors and walls, and three limestone fireplaces, 20 gold-accented bas-relief angel of commerce figurines. Two bas-relief panels—a steam locomotive and a traveling chariot—at each end of the lobby.

Construction began in August 1898, Union Station was the primary train station from 1900 until 1960. After several years of work, the Union Station reopened as a hotel in 1986.

In the Lobby (which is the 3rd floor) you will see this fireplace which is original to the building and was originally wood burning. it is still in operation today, but it has been converted to a glass fireplace.

Below is the view of the Lobby from the fireplace. The last room on the right is a room called the South Wind (named after one of the trains that passed through Union Station) This room was originally the gentlemen's waiting room.

If you look at the middle of the photo below you will see two sets of glass doors, that was the original open-air grand entrance to Union Station. I was not able to get a photo inside the room because it is now used as a restaurant. But if you get a chance go inside and you will see the original logo of the station located on the portico facing Broadway.

Next, if you look at the photo to the left at the very end you will see two sets of glass doors. This room is called the Hummingbird after another famous train from the 1940s. This room was originally the waiting area for women and children.

Please note that the ceiling of the Grand Lobby houses 128 panels of original curved stained glass that was manufactured by the Lumius Prims Company, which was a competitor to the Tiffany Glass Company.

When you exit the Hummingbird room and turn to your right you will see the ERGO bar. However, this space originally was used as the ticket counter.

The 5th floor of Union Station was used as the main administrative office's for the L&N Railway. All the arched windows used to be offices.

The clock below is located on the North side of the Grand Lobby on either side of the clock you will see the Angels of Time and Progress. Below you will see a sculpture (original to the building) of what appears to be a Pharaoh and his queen being pulled by a chariot. If you get close you can see how the plaster was carved out to create the three-dimensional forms.

I did not get it in the photo, but above the clock below you will see part of a gold medallion. They are above both clocks. This medallion represents the sun, and when looking across to the other side you will see another one. These symbolize the sun changing with the passage of time.

The clock below is located at the South end of the Grand Lobby. Miss Louisville and Miss Nashville 1900 are on the sides of the clock. Below is a relief of the Bully 108, which was a state-of-the-art modern steam engine. The Bully 108. is meant to contract the chariot on the North side to show how far travel had progressed.

They are hard to see in the photo of the Grand Lobby that I posted but if you look closely around the windows on the 5th floor you will see 20 Angels of Commerce that circle the lobby. Each one is unique, and each angel holds a different item representing productions and transportation that took place locally in Tennessee. The items range from corn, wheat, livestock, cotton, tobacco, and whiskey to books.

In the four corners of the building above the arches are eight subtle faces that are the "signature" of the architect and builder H.H. Richarson.

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