Macon Georgia downtown old Railroad Train Station
TERMINAL STATION Macon Georgia
200 Cherry St.
Macon GA. 31201
Terminal Station Macon Phone Number
478-743-3401
Macon Terminal Station,
Macon Georgia downtown old Railroad Train Station
Macon's 1916 Terminal Station, is Georgia's grandest surviving railroad station. It was designed in the Beaux Arts style by architect Alfred Fellheimer (1875-1959), who with his partners also designed stations in Cincinnati, Buffalo, and other cities.
In 1926-27, the station handled as many as a hundred arrivals/departures each day, primarily trains of the Central of Georgia , Southern Railway, and Georgia Southern & Florida. Passengers accessed the train platforms by way of a tunnel under the tracks.
After closing in 1975, the building stood unused several years until it was purchased by Georgia Power Company in 1982 and used as its local offices in the 1980s and 1990s. In 2002, the City of Macon received one million dollars in TEA funds to purchase the building from Georgia Power and convert it to a retail, office, and transportation center.
Macon Terminal Station interior waiting area,
Macon Georgia downtown old Railway Train Station
Macon Terminal Station, Negro Colored Waiting room,
Macon Georgia downtown old Railroad Train Station
Macon GA. Terminal Station, Negro Colored Waiting room 1916 history sign,
Macon Georgia downtown old Train Station
History
1916-1971
- Macon Terminal Station was constructed in 1916.
- It was designed by Alfred Fellheimer of New York City and built to be the union station of all 15 railroads operating in Macon at the time. The Terminal Station building has a limestone exterior with the Main Lobby and Waiting Areas having marble floors and walls of pink Tennessee marble.
- More than 100 arrivals a day were handled through the Macon Terminal during the 1920’s and 1930’s-the heyday of passenger rail. These were steam locomotives followed by the newer diesel locomotives and passenger trains such as the Nancy Hanks, which ran 1948-1971.
- After the end of passenger rail, the Terminal remained almost abandoned until it was bought by the City of Macon in 1978. The City explored options for its best use including tearing down the Terminal and building a new office and shopping center. In 1982 the City reached an agreement to sell the Terminal to Georgia Power Company for their Middle Georgia headquarters. Georgia Power set out on an extensive renovation program and occupied the building beginning in 1984. Georgia Power operations were transferred out to Atlanta and other sites in the mid to late 1990’s again putting the building’s future in peril.
- The Terminal Station was bought by the City of Macon again in 2002 and study began on converting it to an inter-modal transportation facility.
- The City of Macon applied for and was awarded a Federal Transportation Grant in excess of $5 million in 2005 to begin Phase 1 of the Macon Terminal Station Inter-Modal Transportation Facility.
- As beginning steps in this process, Macon Transit Authority administrative offices were relocated to the main floor of the Terminal. A temporary waiting shelter was relocated to Fifth Street in front of the Terminal to serve as the MTA transfer station.
- A second step was renovation of the Railway Express freight portion of the building to serve as the new location of Georgia Department of Driver Services.
- Office space in the Terminal became the home of several City departments. Today the Terminal Station houses offices for Macon Transit Authority, City of Macon IT Department, Macon Police Department’s Youth & Intervention unit, Economic and Community Development Department, Macon-Bibb Office of Workforce Development, and the U S Census Bureau for the 2010 Census.
