Union Station

From the late 1940s until 1969, the U.S. Air Force kept a record of all of its investigations into supposed alien activity in a report called Project Blue Book. Until 2015, the project archive had been accessible only by visiting the National Archives in downtown D.C. But, now the records are online! In honor of the new Project Blue Book release, we take a look at the 1956 Columbia film, Earth vs. The Flying Saucers, which had a special connection to Washington -- not only in the plot of the movie itself, but in the real-life inspiration behind some of the scenes of terror.

When Union Station opened in 1907, the white granite Beaux-Arts train terminal designed by architect Daniel H. Burnham set a new standard for District's monumental style. The $25 million project was inspired by classical Roman architecture--the Baths of Diocletian and Caraculla and the triumphal Arch of Rome--and incorporated flourishes such as Ionic columns, chiseled inscriptions. But by the mid-1960s, the railroads' fortunes had faded, and they were eager to unload Union Station, and there was talk of demolishing it.

Given that he was a pretty important fellow with a busy schedule, it’s also no surprise that J.P. Morgan didn’t want to waste a lot of time in transit between D.C. and New York. After all, he had deals to strike, businesses to reorganize and railroads to consolidate amongst other items on his “to-do” list. And so, on January 23, 1911, Morgan took it upon himself to set a new world record for rail travel between D.C. and the Big Apple.