Allen County, Indiana Genealogy

Fort Wayne, Allen County, Indiana Places

Baker Street Station

221 W Baker Street, Street View photo from Google maps with over 100 user submitted photos and more on Google search.
On the right is the Peoples Trust Bank Clock shown in a 1939 photo of a crowded sidewalk by Grand Leader in the Central High School Caldron yearbook.
Discussed March 3, 2024 on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook

Has a Facebook page. See web page for Historic Baker Street Station. The Pennslyvania Railroad Station was visited by 10,000 people on opening day, March 23, 1914. From Take a step into history and dream about the future as the Baker Street Station celebrates 100 years and Photo Gallery with video lists notable and famous riders by Jaclyn Goldsborough published September 2, 2014 in The News-Sentinel newspaper. Fort Wayne companies call historic buildings home about the Electron building and Baker Street Station by Dan Vance published January 21, 2019 in InFortWayne.com by KPC Media News Service. See our Railroad History of Fort Wayne page.

Baker Street Station in downtown Fort Wayne celebrates 100 years by the The News-Sentinel published September 1, 2014 on YouTube.
Michael Galbraith, president of ARCH, Inc., shares stories and facts on the Baker Street Station, a historic Pennsylvania Railroad Station in Fort Wayne, which is celebrating 100 years in 2014.

Baker Street Station search results and Pennsylvania Railroad Depot results at the Allen County Public Library Digital Collections at the Allen County Public Library.
June 30, 2016 post by Hofer and Davis, Inc. Land Surveyors on Facebook:

For "Throwback Thursday" we dug this out of the old scrapbook! Look real careful and follow the arrow to see Hofer and Davis pictured at the grand re-opening of the Pennsylvania Railroad Station back in 2002.

Shared June 30, 2023 on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook:

Martin Riley Mock were known as the “Party Apes” and in 2002 they threw a huge gala when their refurbishment of the Penn Central Train Station was complete.

I’m not sure when it closed, but I have a fuzzy memory of picking up an Aunt and Uncle from SanFrancisco that were afraid to fly.

After bringing it back to old glory, it was a space to rent and attended 2 wedding receptions there.
Current home of MartinRiley architects-engineers. Website: martin-riley.com, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/martin.riley.ae. Business Spotlight: MartinRiley on Downtown Fort Wayne.
December 15, 2016 post by IN Fort Wayne Community Newspapers on Facebook:

Happy Thursday, everyone!

Fort Wayne's Baker Street train station decorated for the holidays.

infortwayne.com/photo-of-the-day

— in Fort Wayne, IN.
January 4, 2018 post by Hofer and Davis, Inc. Land Surveyors on Facebook:

Yesterday, for Wall of Fame Wednesday, we shared our beads and medallion from a 2006 Martin Riley party. For "Throwback Thursday" we share this Journal Gazette photo from 1996 when we attended the open house of the refurbished historic train station! If one looks really close, and follows the arrow you can see Hofer and Davis enjoying this celebration!
In 1998 was added to the National Register of Historic Places from their History page.
THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD STATION ON BAKER STREET IN FORT WAYNE, INDIANA: THE STORY OF SERVICE & SURVIVAL by Walter B. Sassmannshausen.
Book filled with 100 years of memories about train station by Walter B. "Skip" Sassmannshausen Jr. published January 24, 2015 in The News-Sentinel newspaper.
Baker Street Train Station Turns 100 with video by Eric Olson published February 6, 2015 on 21AliveNews.comnow on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine
Baker Street Station 1920
By Randy Harter
Fort Wayne Reader
2017-06-05

When the Pennsylvania Lines railroad tracks were elevated through downtown Fort Wayne during 1911-1913, the old Pennsy railroad station that sat about at the location of today’s Mikes Carwash on Calhoun was removed. A new station designed by the Philadelphia firm of Price and McLanahan was built two blocks west and finished in March of 1914. Constructed of semi-glazed buff brick, the beautiful two-story building featured terrazzo floors, marble borders, bronze light fixtures, and over the main concourse, stained-glass skylights. The final cost was $550,000, which adjusted for inflation would be about $13M in 2017 dollars.

Through the years, this station serviced passengers for the Pennsylvania RR, Penn Central RR, Conrail and finally, Amtrak’s Broadway Limited (Chicago to New York City), which made its last stop at the station on November 11, 1990 (now rerouted through Waterloo). The building, now known as the Baker Street Station, saw more than its share of luminaries and politicians, many of whom used it as a whistle stop opportunity to reach out to voters. Some of those that gave speeches on Baker Street included U.S. Presidents Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower. Likely the station’s highest usage was during World War II, when an estimated 3,000 passengers passed through the station each day.

During the 1990’s the station nearly became a twisted pile of rubble as the city had issued permits to demolish the once beautiful structure, which by that time featured broken windows and had been stripped of anything salvageable. Fortunately, local architect Vic Martin came to the rescue, gaining ownership of the property in May of 1996. With the help of other passionate citizens and volunteers over the ensuing years, the property was returned to its former grandeur, as well as being listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. Now, in addition to being the home of Martin Riley Architects & Engineers, the wonderfully restored main concourse is rented for banquets, receptions and community events. (Image courtesy ACPL)

Randy Harter is a Fort Wayne historian, author, and tour guide for Fort Wayne Food Tours.
Presentation shares 100 years of Baker Street Station history posted October 24, 2015 on Around Fort Wayne blog .
December 14, 2017 post by Hofer and Davis, Inc. Land Surveyors on Facebook:

For Throwback Thursday" we share this article written for the PEOPLE SOUTHWEST through The Journal-Gazette by Tracy Warner on February 11, 1988. Tracy later became Journal-Gazette writer and Editorial Editor, and now works for Indiana and Michigan Power (AEP). We shared pictures before on the McCulloch House on Superior Street, when Tom and Kris Bireley had restored it and we surveyed for them. This article is on the flip side, and mentions one of our long-time clients Bud Hall. It also talks about the City Light property before it became Science Central. BTW....Hofer and Davis, Inc. provided the survey when Science Central took over!

It shows an image of the PEOPLE SOUTHWEST a The Journal Gazette newspaper article by Tracy Warner on February 11, 1988 discussing six old buildings he wrote about four years earlier in 1983, four were vital to Fort Wayne heritage, that were wasting away. Two were still empty in 1988. They were the McCulloch House, the Centlivre Brewery site still standing in 1988 but later demolished, The Edsall House, the Baker Street Train Depot, the Hanna School built in 1905, closed in 1977, city bought in 1979, sold in 1984, bought again in 1986 then demolished in 1987 saving only the arched doorways, a gable, the cornerstone and balustrade; and City Light now Science Central. At the end he mentioned car phones a new technology in 1988!
Pennsylvania Railroad Station - Baker Street Station, Fort Wayne Indiana with 5 pages of photos February 7, 2023 at Historic Structures.
May 4, 2023 post by MartinRiley architects-engineers on Facebook:

May is Historic Preservation Month so throughout the month we'll be sharing photos of the Baker Street Train Station through the years. Take a look and see what 30 years difference can make, going from a boarded up ready to be torn down shell after passenger rail left to a iconic DTFW landmark after it went through an award winning renovation from the MR crew.
May 11, 2023 post by MartinRiley architects-engineers on Facebook:

By the 60's, rail use at the train station was already in it's decline but that didn't stop Fort Wayne's newly formed Wildcat Baseball League from punching a ticket. Below, league members are being shown which car they need to board for their trip to Chicago to see a MLB game.
To continue with our Wildcat theme, here the teams are standing in line to get into the station for their big trip to the Windy City.
Posted by MartinRiley architects-engineers on Friday, May 12, 2023

Friday, May 12, 2023 post by MartinRiley architects-engineers on Facebook:

To continue with our Wildcat theme, here the teams are standing in line to get into the station for their big trip to the Windy City.
May 19, 2023 post by MartinRiley architects-engineers on Facebook:

In 1995, after years of neglect, Vic Martin and John Riley took on the task of restoring the station to its original glory. By this time the station had no electrical or mechanical service, 20 years of water damage, vandals had stripped the building of valuables and caused extensive damage to its historical features. By 1997 and several thousand man-hours later the office wings of the station had been renovated and were fully occupied. The concourse was a different matter but that will be a story for another time...
May 25, 2023 post by MartinRiley architects-engineers on Facebook:

Circa 1971, passengers await for their trains to arrive via the newly formed AMTRAK. Today, in the same space you can find elegant wedding receptions and other events being held throughout the year.
On September 15, 1952 General Dwight D. Eisenhower made a 150-mile trip through northern Indiana during his candidacy...
Posted by MartinRiley architects-engineers on Friday, May 26, 2023

Friday, May 26, 2023 post by MartinRiley architects-engineers on Facebook:

On September 15, 1952 General Dwight D. Eisenhower made a 150-mile trip through northern Indiana during his candidacy for President. His stop in Fort Wayne brought him to the Baker Street Station to give a whistle-stop speech where a crowd of 5,000 greeted the candidate. He reminisced to the crowd of his previous visit 30 years earlier when he was with a military company camped outside the city. It was then he learned of John Chapman and would later remark how Fort Wayne and Johnny Appleseed have been one and the same in his mind.
Baker Street Station / Pennsylvania Station (1960) in the Allen County Public Library Digital Collections at the Allen County Public LibraryDescription: Opened in 1914 and saw passenger rail service until 1990. It was shuttered and almost razed when architect Vic Martin purchased it. The station was returned to its original splendor. Photo taken from the roof of Lincoln Financial Group 1301 S S Harrison St, Fort Wayne, IN 46802.

February 8, 2023 discussion on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook.

A Comment by Craig Leonard, local historic preservation consultant, states: This is the largest free-standing building designed by the Philadelphia architects Price and McClanahan(they also designed the 1916 train shed addition to Union Station Indianapolis, which was made into a multi-use mall in the 1980's). Will Price' brother in law, James Turner, was the Vice President of the Western Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, so this firm designed most of their structures between Philadelphia and Chicago. James Turner later left the railroad to found Turner Construction, which built One Summit Square, now the Indiana Michigan Tower. (cf., George Thomas, William L. Price, From Arts and Crafts to Modern, Princeton, 2000. The firm had enough Indiana business to have a branch office in Indianapolis for seven years.
Check out the new mural installed today at the Baker Street Train Station and how it captures the essence of this iconic Fort Wayne landmark!
Posted by MartinRiley architects-engineers on Monday, March 4, 2024

March 4, 2024 post by MartinRiley architects-engineers on Facebook:

Check out the new mural installed today at the Baker Street Train Station and how it captures the essence of this iconic Fort Wayne landmark!