A station first opened on this spot on June 1, 1881, after four railroads agreed to share one "union" station. A fire in 1894 destroyed the middle of it, and a bigger one went up in the Romanesque Revival style.
On July 4, 1906, a huge arch was dedicated in front of the station. It cost $22,500, used 70 tons of steel and had more than 2,000 light bulbs. One side said "Welcome" and the other said "Mizpah", a farewell word. The arch was torn down in 1931 because it was considered a traffic hazard.
The current central building, in the Beaux-Arts style, opened in 1914. After a big renovation, the station house reopened in summer 2014 with the 112-room Crawford Hotel, shops and a modern open-air train hall.