Picture the Van Sweringen brothers' 1929 vision here: a train terminal modeled after New York's Grand Central. From here you occupy the center of a complex that began life in 1929 as Cleveland Union Terminal, commissioned by the Van Sweringen brothers, railroad moguls and real estate developers. Imagine the original terminal, conceived like New York’s Grand Central Terminal, uniting all trains coming into Cleveland along multiple railroad lines.
Its design set the northern tracks for interurban or rapid transit and the southern tracks for inter-city rail; the space above the interurban lines was called the Traction Concourse. Over time the station became an interwoven cluster of office buildings — Terminal Tower and the Landmark Office Towers — alongside a shopping center, Jack Cleveland Casino, Hotel Cleveland, Chase Financial Plaza, and Tower City station, now the main hub of Cleveland’s RTA Rapid Transit lines. The whole structure earned recognition on March 17, 1976, when it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Stand here and feel the layered history: a 1929 railroad ambition turned into a modern mixed-use heart of the city. Terminal Tower, the Landmark Office Towers, a casino, Hotel Cleveland, and Tower City station now fill this transit hub for you.