(rshsdepot) Great Falls, MT

["J. Henry Priebe Jr." <root_@_bluemoon.net>]

Milwaukee railroad depot a landmark

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20090523/LIFESTYLE/905230308

Thanks to Alco83 in the railfan.net forum for the heads up.

Henry

J. Henry Priebe Jr.    Blue Moon Internet Corp Network Administrator
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Milwaukee railroad depot a landmark

By Tribune Staff . May 23, 2009 

Editor's note: This is the third installment of a four-part series on local
historic places as part of National Historic Preservation Month.

The tower of the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul Passenger Depot rises high
above trees along the Missouri River.

It's been a Great Falls landmark since its construction in 1915.

Completed at a cost of $150,000, the building was considered to be the finest
depot of its kind on the Milwaukee Road between Spokane and Chicago.

The depot's 135-foot tower still bears the railway's insignia and was the
first in the United States to boast large tiled mosaics on its tower
displaying the railway's trademark.

The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway was the last of the
transcontinental rail lines to traverse Montana. Constructed between 1907 and
1909, the line consolidated Great Falls' position as a major urban center for
central Montana.

The population increase that followed the construction of the Milwaukee Road
and the rapid settlement of the central Montana plains by homesteaders helped
transform Great Falls into a major railroad center.

The arrival of this formidable competition forced the Northern Pacific
Railroad to rebuild substantial portions of its rail line, upgrade service and
reduce shipping rates.

The Milwaukee passenger depot played a big role in the history of
transportation and commerce in Great Falls between 1915 and 1925, as the Great
Plains were settled by homesteaders.

However, four years of drought, pestilence and falling grain prices after
World War I precipitated one of the worst agricultural depressions in the
state's history. New immigration to Montana virtually ceased, and thousands of
central Montana homesteaders lost their newly acquired farms to foreclosure.
The depot continued to serve the Milwaukee railway until the early 1950s, when
the railroad abandoned passenger service to Great Falls. The city accepted
ownership of the building in December 1954.

Much of the significant depot-related interior detailing was removed in a
1970s renovation after the building had stood vacant for 15 years. The depot
saw new life as a mall-like shopping area, restaurant and bar.

The depot again fell into disuse until Mitchell Properties purchased and
rehabilitated the building for executive office suites. The beautifully
landscaped property has become a popular place for weddings, and the depot
remains a significant "Place that Matters" in Great Falls.



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railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1892
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org