 The first railroad station in Erie was established in 1851 but was replaced with the Romanesque Revival @-@ style Union Depot in 1866 . Through a series of mergers and acquisitions by competing railroad companies , which started not long after the establishment of Erie 's first railroads , Union Depot became jointly owned and operated by the New York Central and Pennsylvania railroads . To meet the changing needs of the rapidly growing city , planners designed a more modern structure to replace the original depot . The new Art Deco Union Station , dedicated on December 3 , 1927 , was the first railroad station of that style in the United States . 
