Union Station and Science City

Union Station opened in 1914, replacing an older, flood-prone depot, and it was built on a grand scale to match Kansas City's importance as a rail hub. Sitting near the geographic center of the country, the city was a place where east-west and north-south lines met, and the station handled enormous crowds, especially during the World Wars when soldiers passed through by the trainload.

The Grand Hall was designed to impress, with its towering ceiling, huge arched windows, and three great chandeliers, a fitting portal for a city at the crossroads of America. In its heyday the station was among the busiest in the nation, a place of arrivals, departures, and the constant motion of a country on the rails.

The station was the scene of one of the most notorious crimes of the gangster era. On the morning of June 17, 1933, in front of the depot, gunmen opened fire in an attempt to spring a captured criminal being transported by lawmen. The shooting, which became known as the Kansas City Massacre or the Union Station Massacre, left several lawmen and the prisoner dead.

The violence shocked the nation and helped galvanize support for a stronger federal law-enforcement response, feeding the rise of the modern FBI. Bullet marks from the shootout were long visible on the station's stonework, a grim reminder of the day gunfire echoed across the plaza of this grand public building.

After the Second World War, as Americans turned to cars and airplanes, rail travel dwindled and the great station emptied out. By the late twentieth century Union Station stood mostly vacant and decaying, its future in doubt, and demolition was a real possibility for the enormous, costly-to-maintain building.

In a rare show of regional cooperation, voters across the Kansas City area approved a tax to fund the station's restoration, and it reopened around the turn of the millennium reborn as a public destination. The Grand Hall was polished back to its former glory, and the sprawling building filled with new life, proof that a beloved landmark could be saved when a community chose to save it.

The heart of the new Union Station is Science City, a large hands-on science center where visitors of all ages explore experiments, exhibits, and interactive galleries. Alongside it are theaters, a planetarium, traveling exhibitions, restaurants, and event spaces, so the old depot hums again with visitors, though now they come for discovery rather than departures.

Just across a broad lawn to the south rises the National WWI Museum and Memorial, its tall stone pylon a landmark of the Kansas City skyline. The two sites face each other across Pershing Road, and together with the nearby Crown Center and downtown, they anchor one of the most rewarding corners of the city to explore on foot.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is a place we chose through independent editorial review, never a paid placement.

Union Station and Science City, in Kansas City, Missouri, combine a magnificent historic train station with a lively hands-on science center, a beloved destination in the heart of the city. The grand Union Station, a beautifully restored early twentieth-century railroad depot, is an architectural landmark that still serves trains and houses shops, dining, exhibits, a planetarium, and a theater, while within it Science City offers interactive science exhibits and hands-on fun for families. Blending historic grandeur with science and entertainment, it delights visitors of all ages. With its historic station and science center, Union Station and Science City offer a fascinating destination in Missouri.

You can admire the magnificent restored historic train station and its grand architecture, explore Science City's interactive science exhibits and hands-on activities, catch a show at the planetarium or theater, browse shops and dining, and see traveling exhibitions. The grand historic station, the hands-on Science City, the planetarium, and the exhibitions are the draws, making it a rich blend of history, science, and entertainment for families. Science City especially delights children. With its station and science center, Union Station and Science City offer a rewarding experience in Kansas City, Missouri.

Yes, Union Station and Science City are a wonderful family destination, with Science City's hands-on, interactive science exhibits and activities that captivate children, a planetarium, a theater, traveling exhibitions, and the grand historic station to explore, plus shops and dining. Kids especially love the interactive science fun, while the whole family enjoys the architecture and shows. Checking current hours and any exhibition or show details before you go is wise. With its science center, planetarium, and historic station, Union Station and Science City make an excellent family destination in Missouri.

As a mostly indoor destination, Union Station and Science City are enjoyable year-round in any weather, making a great stop on a hot, cold, or rainy day. They can be busier on weekends, holidays, school breaks, and during popular traveling exhibitions. Because show and exhibition schedules vary, checking current hours and details before you go is wise. Because it is indoors, Union Station and Science City make a rewarding family stop any time of year in Kansas City, Missouri.

Union Station and Science City are in Kansas City, Missouri, near the National WWI Museum and Memorial, within reach of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, the Nelson-Atkins Museum with its shuttlecocks, Loose Park, and downtown Kansas City. That makes Union Station and Science City a fun stop to combine with the National WWI Museum and Memorial and the other attractions of Kansas City on a visit to Missouri.