Check Out these Mad Men-esque Stations

Ever wonder why the Lawrence and Topeka stations in Kansas look so similar?

After World War II, the Santa Fe Railway wanted to don a new look, so they reinvested in a few of its stations, including Lawrence and Topeka, by adorning them in a Mid-Century Modern style.

Picture the architecture you see in Mad Men, and you’ll get the idea: loads of bricks, walls made out of glass, terrazzo floors, and open, airy rooms with flat roofs.

Lawrence-based architects (both named Warren!), Warren Jones and Warren Corman, designed their town’s station to match the Mid-Century Modern trend, and opened it up in 1956. The Depot Redux, a group that volunteers to restore this Amtrak station, lead regular clean-up days at the depot.

Similarly, at the Burlington, Iowa station, which also rocks the Mid-Century Modern look, a “Friends of the Depot” group is always painting and fixing the windows to help the city maintain the structure – and greeting its two trains each day!

Also nailing the Mid-Century Modern architecture like the Lawrence station, the Topeka depot was built with off-white stones cut into squares, terrazzo floors, and sunken ceiling lights. It opened in 1950-well before the Mad Men debut in 2007.

Have you seen these stations in person? Tell us about your experience in the comments below!