KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Union Station is celebrating 111 years in Kansas City.

Created from the mind of architect Jarvis Hunt, construction on Union Station began in 1911, and on Oct. 30, 1914, the city celebrated its grand opening. Just after midnight on the morning of Nov. 1, 1914, the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Flyer became the first train to arrive at the newly opened station.

When completed, it was the third-largest train station in the country, a building President Woodrow Wilson called “the gateway to the West.”

The finished construction project cost nearly $6 million and was part of a $50 million investment by the Kansas City Terminal Railroad that also included track additions, switching towers, viaducts, and bridges, according to Union Station. • Photo courtesy: Union Station • Pho

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