Central Station (Memphis)

Memphis Central Station is a passenger terminal located south of the Memphis, TN business district. The station was once owned by the Illinois Central Railroad but was later purchased by the Memphis Transit Authority in 1995. Memphis Central Station is situated along Main Street and G.E. Patterson Boulevard and continues to serve as a hub for Amtrak and Memphis' trolley cars. A full renovation of the building was completed in 1999 and the upper floors of the building are now subdivided into the Central Station Apartments.

Construction of Memphis Central Station began in September 1912 and was completed by October 1914. The track design included five "through" tracks and five "stub-end" tracks. Nearly fifty trains per day rolled through the station at the height of the passenger train era. Memphis Central Station drew a number of businesses to downtown Memphis and a bustling commercial zone soon developed around nearby. The Arcade Restaurant and the Loraine Motel (now the Civil Rights Museum) are among the most well-known businesses to emerge near the station. 

Switchtender L.E. Haney was killed at the station in the early 1940s and his family filed a wrongful death suit under the Federal Employers Liability Act. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the claim in Lavender v. Kurn 27 U.S. 645 (1946). 

"Memphis, TN (MEM)." Great American Stations. August 13, 2014.  http://www.greatamericanstations.com/stations/memphis-tn-mem.