Inside the Jacksonville Terminal

Now known as the Prime Osborn Convention Center, the Jacksonville Terminal was once the South's largest railroad station.

General Information 

Name: Jacksonville Terminal

Year constructed: 1917-1919

Architect: Kenneth M. Murchison - New York

Terminal Facts:

1. During it's heyday, it handled as many as 142 trains and 20,000 passengers a day.

2. It was Jacksonville's third "Union Terminal".

3. The architectural design is borrowed from New York's Penn Station (demolished).

4. The interior features a 75-foot barrel vaulted ceiling.

5. The last passenger train rolled out on January 3, 1974.

6. The restoration to convert the facility into a convention center was started in 1985.

 

Photo Tour

An aerial of the Jacksonville Terminal and Railroad Row in the 1930s.

 

West Bay was once known as Railroad Row.  The buildings adjacent to the terminal housed many businesses catering to the traffic produced by the South's largest railroad station.

 

Imagine arriving by train to Jacksonville, then hopping on a streetcar to get you throughout the city.  80 years ago this was reality.  Today, it's a dream.

 

The large parking lot today was once home to the terminal's sheds.

 

The Terminal in 1987.  Just 20 years ago, many of the structures that were once known as Railroad Row (on Bay Street) still existed.

 

The "Colored" waiting room during the Jim Crow era.

 

The Jacksonville Terminal Interior

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Exterior

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enough to jump start a Transportation Museum?