Union Pacific Depot, Salt Lake City

The Union Pacific Depot in Salt Lake City is a landmark of early 20th-century American railroad history, now transformed into the elegant Asher Adams, Autograph Collection hotel. Built between 1908 and 1909, the depot was originally constructed by the San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake Railroad and the Oregon Short Line, with a significant contribution from Union Pacific in the 1920s. This sandstone structure was crafted in French Second Empire style, adorned with a terrazzo floor, stained glass windows, and murals by John MacQuarrie and August C. Wocker.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Salt Lake Union Pacific Railroad Station, the depot once bustled with travelers boarding long-distance trains like the Desert Wind and Pioneer routes. In the 1970s, the building underwent major renovations, preserving its historic charm while adapting it for modern use. By 2006, three floors were opened as The Depot, a popular restaurant and music venue.

The depot's recent transformation into a hotel introduces a unique blend of historic and contemporary luxuries. While the original building houses the hotel’s lobby, restaurants, function rooms, and 13 luxury suites, a new structure behind the depot provides an additional 225 rooms. Named after cartographers John R. Asher and George H. Adams, who first mapped railroad routes, the hotel honors the rich history of the site.

The interiors capture a sense of history, with one ceiling mural, Driving the Golden Spike, celebrating the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869, and another, Emigrants Entering Salt Lake Valley, illustrating the 1847 arrival of Mormon pioneers. Once bustling with amenities for passengers—including separate waiting areas, an emergency hospital, and baggage rooms—today, the Union Pacific Depot remains a symbol of Salt Lake City's past, artfully woven into the modern landscape.