Built on the site of LA’s original Chinatown, Union Station opened in 1939 as America’s last grand rail station. It’s a glamorous exercise in Mission Revival style with art deco and American Indian accents. The marble-floored main hall, with cathedral ceilings, original leather chairs and 3000-pound chandeliers, is breathtaking. The station's Traxx Bar was once the telephone room, complete with operator to place customers' calls. The LA Conservancy runs 2½-hour walking tours of the station on Saturdays at 10am (book online).
The tiled twin domes north of the station belong to the Terminal Annex, once LA’s central post office before it was closed and later reopened as an active postal branch. This is where Charles Bukowski worked, inspiring his 1971 novel Post Office.
