Pictured on a 1907 post card are passengers on the Southwest Limited enjoying a breath of fresh air somewhere between Chicago and Kansas City on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. A message written on the post card, addressed to a Henry Taylor of Kansas City, reads: We did so enjoy seeing you at the Grand Avenue station. Be good. Kansas City's Grand Avenue Station was built in 1889 by the Kansas City Belt Railway Company and was located just east of the present Grand Avenue viaduct. Burnham & Root of Chicago were the architects. For a quarter century this station was used by Kansas City passengers taking Santa Fe, Rock Island or Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul trains because it eliminated the long trek to the old Union Depot in the West Bottoms. Carriages approaching the station used a double-lane oak-plank roadway, which led from Grand. Other passengers arrived by cable car and used a walkway just above the plank roadway. On the lower level a flower bed of red and yellow blooms alternating spelled out in 2-foot letters Grand Avenue Station. The Kansas City Terminal offices were on the second floor of the building. During World War I the structure was used as a layover quarters for members of the Railroad Y.M.C.A. Later it served as a warehouse. It was razed in 1959. Kansas City Times, June 23, 1973.
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