Union Depot

The Union Depot opened in 1895 to serve the Chicago and West Michigan Railway; the Muskegon, Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad; and the Toledo, Saginaw and Muskegon Railroad. A. W. Rush and Son of Grand Rapids designed the Richardsonian Romanesque station. Several national political figures paused at the depot during whistle stop campaigns. In 1896 William Jennings Bryan stopped during the first of three unsuccessful presidential bids. The 1952 campaign brought Republican vice presidential candidate, and future president, Richard M. Nixon to Muskegon, as well as President Harry S Truman who stopped on behalf of Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson. The Union Depot closed in 1971. It was donated to Muskegon County in 1992 and restored as a visitors’ center and museum.