{{Short description|Former rail station in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, US}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Use American English|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox station | name = Bethlehem | type = | style = SEPTA |style2 = SEPTA Former | image = Bethlehem Union Station, 1979.tif | image_caption = Bethlehem Union Station in 1979 | address = 240 Union Station Plaza | borough = [[Bethlehem, Pennsylvania]] | coordinates = {{coord|40|36|49.67|N|75|22|59.28|W|type:railwaystation_region:US-PA|display=inline,title}} | line = | other = | structure = | platform = | depth = | levels = | tracks = 2 | opened = {{circa|1851}} | closed = June 30, 1981<ref>{{cite news |last1=Moylan |first1=Tom |title=Rail Service Ends Today for Bethlehem; SEPTA Retains Quakertown Run |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16311217/rail-service-ends-today-for-bethlehem/ |accessdate=September 1, 2020 |work=[[The Morning Call]] |date=June 30, 1981 |location=Allentown, Pennsylvania |page=16|via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref> | rebuilt = November 18, 1867<br />1924 | owned = St. Luke's Hospital | zone = | former = | other_services_header=Former lines & services | other_services= {{Adjacent stations|system1=SEPTA |line1=Bethlehem|left1=Allentown|right1=Hellertown|to-left1=Allentown|to-right1=Reading Terminal|note-left1=Closed 1979 |system2=Reading Company |line2=Bethlehem Branch|right2=Hellertown|to-right2=Fern Rock |system3=Lehigh Valley Railroad |line3=Main Line|left3=Allentown|right3=Easton |line4=Main Line|left4=Allentown|right4=Freemansburg }} | mapframe = yes | mapframe-zoom = 14 | mapframe-marker-color = #{{rcr|SEPTA|Bethlehem}} | mapframe-marker = rail }}
'''Bethlehem Union Station''' is a former train station located in the South Side neighborhood of [[Bethlehem, Pennsylvania]]. It was built in 1924 by the [[Lehigh Valley Railroad]] and the [[Reading Company]], replacing an earlier station built in 1867. Passenger service to Philadelphia on the [[SEPTA Regional Rail]] [[Bethlehem Line]] lasted until 1981. The station was renovated in 2002 and used for medical clinics beginning in 2003. It is owned by St. Luke's Hospital.
==History== [[File:Bethlehem Union Station 1909 postcard.jpg|thumb|left|Postcard of Bethlehem Union Depot in 1909]] In 1745, the Crown Inn was established as [[Bethlehem, Pennsylvania]]'s first public house to serve stagecoach travelers. It soon became an important meeting point in the city, even after the nearby ferry was replaced with a bridge in 1794. The [[Lehigh Valley Railroad]] and [[North Pennsylvania Railroad]] both reached Bethlehem by 1855; in 1857, the Crown Inn was demolished to allow a new junction between the two railroads at the Lehigh Valley Railroad's South Bethlehem station.<ref name=history>{{cite news |url=https://www.mcall.com/1999/03/20/historic-site-fine-old-rail-station-are-overlooked/ |title=Historic Site, Fine Old Rail Station Are Overlooked |newspaper=[[The Morning Call]] |date=March 20, 1999 |first=Bill |last=Hubbard |access-date=June 17, 2016}}</ref>
The two railroads built '''Bethlehem Union Depot''', which opened on November 18, 1867. A two-story building with a pointed tower, it was not well liked. In 1924, it was replaced by '''Bethlehem Union Station''', a larger modern brick building.<ref name=history />
Lehigh Valley passenger service ended on February 4, 1961, the last trains being the ''[[Maple Leaf (LV train)|Maple Leaf]]'' and ''John Wilkes.''<ref>'Direct Link To N.Y. CN Link To Be Cut,' 'St. Catherines Standard,' February 2, 1961</ref><ref>'Last of the Railroad - Era Passes Tonight as Lehigh Ends Service,' 'Geneva Times,' February 3, 1961 https://web.archive.org/web/20081013081023/http://www.enter.net/~lvrr/7a8.htm</ref> The Lackawanna and Reading railroads' ''[[Interstate Express]]'' and the Reading's ''Scranton Flyer'' made stops at the station up to 1957 and 1949 respectively.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Reading Railway System, Condensed Time-Table |journal=Official Guide of the Railways |publisher=National Railway Publication Company |volume=82 |issue=8 |date=January 1950}}</ref>
In 1962, the two railroads attempted to auction off the station building.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GSIrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=pZwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2903,3549159&hl=en |title=AUCTION By Order of The Reading Company and Lehigh Valley Railroad Company. |newspaper=[[Reading Eagle]] |date=November 7, 1962 |via=Google News}}</ref> However, it was not sold, and the property passed to [[Conrail]] when the Reading folded in 1976. Conrail continued to provide commuter service to Allentown under contract to [[SEPTA]], which had been subsidizing service since 1966. As SEPTA discontinued its diesel service in favor of shorter electric lines, the line was cut back to Bethlehem in 1979. In April 1981, SEPTA announced its intentions to discontinue service on the line on July 1. [[PennDOT]] attempted to operate service but a last-minute deal with the [[Berks Area Regional Transportation Authority]] to operate the trains fell through during contract negotiations.<ref>{{cite news |title=PennDOT to Halt Commuter Trains on Pottsville and Bethlehem Lines |page=B03 |newspaper=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |date=June 25, 1981 |first=John |last=Hilferty}}<!-- found an old railfan forum post: http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=72&t=40787&start=45--></ref> Service was cut back to [[Quakertown, Pennsylvania|Quakertown]] on July 1, then to [[Lansdale, Pennsylvania|Lansdale]] in August.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/fileSendAction/fcType/0/fcOid/22970455091336971/filePointer/23252098517179894/fodoid/23252098517179889/Stoney%20Creek%20Restoration.pdf |title=Quakertown-Stony Creek Creek Passenger Rail Restoration Business Plan |publisher=Bucks County Transportation Management Association |author=Gannett Fleming Inc. |date=January 2006 |page=2}}</ref>
Some restoration work was performed on the derelict station in the 1980s, but it was unused until Ashley Development Corporation refurbished it in 2002.<ref name=history /><ref name=stlukes>{{cite news |url=https://www.mcall.com/2011/03/25/st-lukes-clinics-pulling-out-of-bethlehems-union-station/ |title=St. Luke's clinics pulling out of Bethlehem's Union Station |newspaper=[[The Morning Call]] |date=March 25, 2011 |first=Tim |last=Darragh |access-date=June 17, 2016}}</ref> St. Luke's Hospital moved clinics into Union Station in 2003, and bought the building outright in 2008. However, St. Luke's moved most of its services to a nearby building in 2011 and 2013.<ref name=stlukes /><ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.prweb.com/releases/st_luke_s_physical_therapy_relocates_balance_headache_center/prweb10916007.htm |title=St. Luke's Physical Therapy Relocates Balance & Headache Center |publisher=PRWeb |author=St. Luke's Hospital |date=July 10, 2013}}</ref> {{clear left}}
==See also== * [[Bethlehem station (Central Railroad of New Jersey)]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{Commons category-inline}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20150723100629/http://www.slhn.org/Directions/Union-Station St. Luke's Union Station] *[https://www.google.com/maps/@40.6133707,-75.3834797,3a,75y,25.84h,78.21t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1slL_MBCnfqQetCRMjUFNOdg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en Station from Riverside Drive on Google Maps Street View] *{{HAER |survey=PA-146 |id=pa1889 |title=Bethlehem Union Station, Bethlehem, Northampton County, PA |photos=1 |data=1 |cap=1}} {{SEPTA Regional Rail stations}}
[[Category:Bethlehem, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Former Lehigh Valley Railroad stations]] [[Category:Former railway stations in Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Former Reading Company stations]] [[Category:Former SEPTA Regional Rail stations]] [[Category:Historic American Engineering Record in Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Railway stations in the United States closed in 1981]] [[Category:Union stations in the United States]]