On August 31, 2026, the National Park Service approved an application by the City of Portland – in partnership with the Oregon Black Pioneers and Prosper Portland – to formally recognize Union Station for its significant role in African American History.

Union Station was originally listed in the National Register in 1975 for its architectural and transportation history. Yet, there is more to the story.

When Union Station opened in 1896, Portland's railroad industry was one of the few sectors that offered career opportunities and stable wages to Black workers. This allowed Black workers to purchase homes and establish greater economic security despite the discrimination they encountered in employment, housing, and other aspects of life. For much of its first 75 years of operation, the railroad industry was the largest employer of Black Portlanders.

Union Station also influenced where Portland's early Black community took roots. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many Black railroad workers and their families settled near the station in inner Northwest Portland. As discriminatory housing practices further constrained where Black Portlanders could live, many families moved to the Albina neighborhood in Northeast Portland, where they could maintain economic ties to the railroad.

Union Station was also an important site of Black labor organizing during this time. Beginning in the 1910s and continuing through the 1950s, Black railroad workers in Portland participated in national and local efforts to improve wages and working conditions, and challenge discriminatory employment practices.

The updated listing recognizes these intertwined stories of employment, migration, community building, and labor activism as central to Union Station's history.

"Union Station is deeply connected to Portland's early Black history, and it's an honor to help ensure future generations will know that part of the story," said Mariah Rocker, Public Programs Manager for Oregon Black Pioneers and one of the preparers of the new documentation.

Uncovering Underrepresented Historic Sites

Historic landmarks in Portland are not fully representative of the histories associated with Portland's diverse communities. In recent years, community organizations, historians, and staff from the City of Portland's Bureau of Planning and Sustainability have collaborated to broaden the scope and themes of Portland's National Register listings. These include African American historic sites and sites significant to LGBTQ+ histories.

"I'm grateful to live in a city that was willing to fund a big update to the old documentation, to show that the station's significance to Black history in Portland was equally, or maybe even more important as the other categories," said local historian Kristen Minor – another contributor to the application.

Learn more about Union Station's history and the City of Portland's Historic Resource Program.

Union Station today

Union Station remains one of Portland's most recognizable landmarks and an active passenger rail hub. Owned by Prosper Portland and operated by Amtrak under a lease agreement, the station is the oldest continuously operating major passenger terminal on the West Coast and continues to serve more than 586,000 passengers annually.

Source: City of Portland

CK