“I’ll meet you under the clock.” It’s a sentence which has been uttered thousands of times. For many old-timers, the phrase needs no further explanation, just a time affixed. For those who invite some further edification as to what it means, here’s some context.
In 1914, when Union Station was built, it instantly became one of the grandest buildings, not only in Kansas City but in the entire country as well. It was designed by architect Jarvis Hunt, the originator of the City Beautiful Movement for which Kansas City became famous. At the time, the railroad was the dominant mode of transport in the United States as modern marvels such as airports or superhighways were nonexistent. When someone wanted to travel or ship goods across the country, it was done on storied railways like the Union Pacific, Southern Pacific, Santa Fe, Chicago and Great Western. Union Station witnessed thousands of people each day funneling through one of the busiest rail hubs anywhere in the country. Soldiers and their families (over one million during WWII) coming back from various wars, students from remote universities, business travelers and vacationers, not to mention holiday revelers at New Year’s all needed a place to meet within the vast Union Station.
In the second largest train station in the country, with 95-foot ceilings, the main focus is the Grand Hall Clock which hangs in a central location from the ceiling and has a six foot (1.8m) diameter face. Amongst throngs of people who’ve passed through Union Station over the years, the most popular place to convene is “under the clock.” Everyone knows where that is. When the station was first built, there were no digital watches or other more sophisticated timepieces, so a large clock that could be seen from almost any vantage point throughout the station’s great hall was constructed. While the principal function of the clock was to assist travelers in meeting their trains on time, the use of clock as a meeting point became equally important when thousands of people a day came through the station. It has been the site of countless farewells, greetings, and New Year’s Eve kisses. The lexicon of Kansas Citians has included at least one constant over decades of modernization. The phrase still resonates after more than 100 years. If we go to Union Station…
“I’ll meet you under the clock.”
- Bob Beachy
