What did the original Penn Station look like?

The original Penn Station occupied two city blocks and featured, according to the New York Preservation Project, “an ornate exterior, arcade, waiting room, concourse and carriage-ways.” The writer Thomas Wolfe also noted that it had “Nine acres of travertine and granite, 84 Doric columns, a vaulted concourse of ...



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Pennsylvania Railroad executives searched for alternate means of income, and in 1961 they decided to dismantle their magnificent terminal and rent its air space. The three-year demolition of Penn Station began on October 28, 1963.

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The original structure was designed by architects McKim, Mead & White, in the Beaux-Arts style, and was erected in 1910.

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Madison Square Garden and two office towers were built above the extensively renovated concourses and waiting area. The first girders for Madison Square Garden were placed in late 1965, and, by mid-1966, much of the station had been demolished except for the Seventh Avenue entrance.

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Though the Penn Station terminal was demolished, the original 1900s tunnels, tracks, platforms and electric traction continue to be used today. But the limits of that original infrastructure are tested daily.

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The Penn Stations in New York City, Newark, New Jersey, and Baltimore are remnants of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company's network, says Travis Harry, director of museum operations at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, a Smithsonian Affiliate.

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The original Pennsylvania Station was an ornate station building designed by McKim, Mead, and White and considered a masterpiece of the Beaux-Arts style. Completed in 1910, it enabled direct rail access to New York City from the south for the first time.

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34th Street–Penn Station is an express station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of 34th Street and Seventh Avenue, it is served by the 1 and 2 trains at all times, and the 3 train at all times except late nights.

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Situated atop Penn Station, Madison Square Garden is the home of the New York Knicks and New York Rangers, as well as an arena for world-touring concerts and boxing matches. Guided tours include VIP areas and locker rooms.

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In the early 1990s, U.S. senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan began championing a plan to rebuild a replica of the historic Penn Station, in which he had shined shoes during the Great Depression. He proposed rebuilding the station in the Farley Post Office building.

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At the same time, Madison Square Garden, a high-rise office and sports complex that still stands today, was built in its place. Though the Penn Station terminal was demolished, the original 1900s tunnels, tracks, platforms and electric traction continue to be used today.

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Moynihan Train Hall and New York Penn Station operate as one complex. Though Amtrak maintains a presence at Penn Station, Moynihan Train Hall is our new home in New York City.

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