Reopening brings memories to life
By Barb Pert Templeton
When the first train left Michigan Central Station after it’s opening in 1913 there were 10 separate gates for traveling passengers and the debut engine traveled to Bay City.
Oh, if those tracks could talk.
As hundreds of thousands of passengers made their way through the station on board the trains over the next 75 years, the stories to be told surely echoed across the huge tile entry way.
The trains stopped running in early 1988 and the station closed shortly thereafter. The iconic 500,000 square foot building stood empty and abandoned in the shadows of Corktown in Detroit.
In 2018 Ford Motor Company stepped in and purchased the building and its grounds for $90 million dollars with a plan to restore the site to its original beauty.
The line to get into the renovated Michigan Central Station was long but admittance is free on Fridays from 5 to 9 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through the summer.
Some six years later, after spending another $80 million dollars, the beloved station reopened in June 2024. The celebration included a huge concert event performed outside the station and included many music legends like Diana Ross and Eminem.
Being a fan of all things historic I was quite excited to learn visitors would be welcomed, free of charge, to tour the brand-new train station this summer.
Joined by my oldest son and my spouse, we stood in line on a recent Friday evening admiring the outside of the massive building eager to step inside.
Once we entered the building the massive entry way with thousands of carefully placed ceiling tiles and a few huge ornate chandeliers made an impressive welcoming committee.
As signs and ushers directed us to various parts of the station, I was happy to see that sharing the building’s rich past along with visitors’ personal stories was made a focal point.
The interior of Michigan Central Station after it opened in 1913.
A lengthy display with news clippings from the past led us into a large room where poster sized photographs of people who had experienced the station were neatly hung. The words for each individual story were also displayed alongside the photographs and it was nice to read about the train station during its glory days.
More rooms, all on the first floor, which is the only section open so far, held memorabilia from the station and some of those came with stories too.
I’d like to return soon. I’m certain I missed lots of things simply based on the crowd jockeying for position as we moved room to room.
Travelers line up at the ticket booths inside the station.
For anyone that loves a happy ending, I recommend visiting the station and enjoying the great beauty brought back to life.
Here are a few fun highlights I found from the train station’s illustrious past:
- Dec. 27, 1913 – Detroit Free Press – “New Depot is One of the Finest in the Country”
The station opened earlier than originally planned due to a fire at the Third Street Train Station. The new facility located in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood opened on Dec. 26, 1913, according to the Detroit Historical Society. Construction on the station began in 1912 to accommodate passenger rail travel. It was designed by Whitney Warren and Charles D. Wetmore, with Charles A. Reed and Allen Stem, who designed Grand Central Station in New York. The station was constructed with a three-story depot with 10 gates for trains, an 18-story tower and more than 500 offices. It featured a restaurant, barber, florist, bathing facilities, a book room and a tea room and more. There were 11 tracks for the use of passenger trains. Baggage was trucked under the train shed and raised to the platform via elevators.
- Sept. 30, 1940 – Detroit Free Press – “Patrol wagon saves players from crush…”
The waiting room at Michigan Central Station.
When the Detroit Tigers clinched the pennant in 1940 there were 50,000 fans bulging Michigan Central Station, another 20,000 crowded the path of the triumphant players and still 50,000 more lined up along Woodward Avenue to welcome their champions’ home. The players fought their way for more than half and hour to get through the throngs of fans in the station. A team of 50 police officers couldn’t secure an aisle way for the team and the people lined up eager to shake their hands nearly tore them limb from limb.
- April 10, 1943 – Detroit Free Press – “Red Cross Enlists Nurses at Railroad Station”
Believing that more women were willing to work for the war effort after dropping husbands and sons at Michigan Central Station the Red Cross nurses recruiting committee set up a booth at the station. This was no ordinary recruiting station with pamphlets and tables but instead had a small sound movie machine in place, resembling a jute box, which had a continuous showing of films on nursing featuring Hollywood starts like actress Ginny Simmons. Applications for both Red Cross nurses and nurses’ aids were being accepted and recruiters signed up a dozen women on their first day at the station. In all, during the next ten months the Red Cross was asked to enroll and send out a minimum of 500 nurses to the Army and Navy.
- June 1, 1945 – Detroit Evening Times – “Nursery Opened at M.C. Station”
On Saturday, Michigan Central Station opened it’s first baby nursery, the second of its kind in the nation. Staff at the station realized the challenges new mothers were having tending to their infants while seated on train station benches. Beds, playthings, bottle warmers, bottle sterilizers a bath and many other baby necessities were included in the nursery in the women’s lounge. The nursery was done in blue with Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse images on the walls.
