Kirkwood station (Missouri)

Kirkwood, MO
The Kirkwood Amtrak station in 2012
General information
Location	110 West Argonne Drive Kirkwood, Missouri United States
Coordinates	38°34′51″N 90°24′24″W / 38.5809°N 90.4068°W / 38.5809; -90.4068
Owned by	City of Kirkwood
Platforms	1 side platform, 1 island platform
Tracks	2
Construction
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Station code	Amtrak: KWD
History
Opened	1893
Passengers
FY 2022	31,063[1] (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station Washington toward Kansas City Missouri River Runner St. Louis Terminus
Former services Preceding station Amtrak Following station Jefferson City toward Kansas City National Limited St. Louis–Union Station toward New York or Washington, D.C. Preceding station Missouri Pacific Railroad Following station Barrett toward Kansas City Main Line Webster Groves toward St. Louis
Kirkwood Missouri Pacific Depot
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Show map of Missouri Show map of the United States
Area	less than one acre
Architect	Douglas Donovan
Architectural style	Late Victorian
NRHP reference No.	85001476[2]
Added to NRHP	July 5, 1985

Kirkwood station, also called the Kirkwood Missouri Pacific Depot, is a suburban Amtrak train station in Kirkwood, Missouri, United States. Located in downtown Kirkwood, it is one of three Amtrak stations in the St. Louis metropolitan area; the other two are the Gateway Multimodal Transportation Center in downtown St. Louis, and the Alton station. The station is run entirely by volunteers. It is the third-busiest Amtrak station in Missouri.

History

In 1851, the land where the current station is located (Argonne Avenue and Kirkwood Road) was obtained from Owen Collins by the Pacific Railroad for a right of way. The track for the Pacific Railroad to Kirkwood was completed in 1853. The first train arrived May 11, 1853, for an auction sale of lots, making Kirkwood the first planned suburb west of the Mississippi. The town was named for the chief engineer for the railroad, James P. Kirkwood.

In 1863, a frame depot was built. Here members of the first school board met to draft the charter of the Kirkwood School District, which was granted in 1865. In 1893, Douglas Donovan was hired by the Missouri Pacific Railroad to construct the current stone station to replace the wooden station. The current station remains today as an outstanding example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture.

Commuter trains ran to and from Kirkwood until 1961. A train turn-table was located near the present Farmers Market for the engines to be turned for the return trip to St. Louis and for the helper engines, which were used to help freight trains manage the "Kirkwood Hill," prior to the arrival of diesel engines. Though originally deemed ineligible for such status,^[3] the station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 5, 1985.

On November 9, 2022, Amtrak announced that it planned to work on improving the station.^[4]

See also

• List of Amtrak stations

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kirkwood (Amtrak station).

• Kirkwood, MO – Amtrak
• Kirkwood, MO – Station history at Great American Stations (Amtrak)
• Kirkwood, MO – USA Rail Guide (TrainWeb)

This page was last edited on 17 January 2024, at 09:52