Union Station

How beautiful is Union Station? Well, even commuters who use it to get to work – people who should loathe the sight of it – say the grand entrance hall, meant to resemble a Roman triumphal arch, never fails to impress. This was the first structure built in accordance with the McMillan plan, the 1901 campaign to revitalize DC’s then dead urban core. Union is one of the pinnacles of the beaux arts and city beautiful movements that transformed the American urban landscape in the 20th century. Besides being an architectural gem, Union is also a semi-minimall and serves as Washington’s main rail hub. The main hall, known as the Grand Concourse, is patterned after the Roman Baths of Diocletian (although shields are strategically placed across the waists of the legionnaire statues – for the record, they’re supposed to be anatomically correct, but rumor holds only one was built that way). In the station’s east wing is the old Presidential Waiting Room (now B Smith’s), where dignitaries and celebrities once alighted when they traveled to DC. The station’s exterior offers vistas of the Capitol and avenues radiating south toward the Mall. Just south along Louisiana Ave NW you’ll find Union Station Plaza, a grassy park with a large fountain cascade, and the Taft Memorial Carillon, whose bells ring every quarter-hour.