Minneapolis Great Northern Depot
Encyclopedia
The Minneapolis Great Northern Depot was a passenger train station
that served Minneapolis, Minnesota
. It was built in 1913
and demolished in 1978
. It was located on Hennepin Avenue
next to the Hennepin Avenue Bridge
and across the street from the main Minneapolis Post Office
.
, an older crossing of the Mississippi River
to the north, also served the depot with a cutoff track located on the bridge.
The Minneapolis Great Northern Depot was built to serve the railroad empire of James J. Hill
. It was constructed at the height of the City Beautiful movement
, at a time when Minneapolis was striving to revive the decaying Bridge Square area. The building was designed by Charles Sumner Frost
, who had earlier designed the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Depot Freight House and Train Shed
, and then later the Saint Paul Union Depot
. (Frost had also supervised the construction of the Navy Pier
in Chicago and the Maine State Building
at the Columbian Exposition of 1893.)
The Depot was constructed of brick and reinforced concrete. It was faced with light Kettle River
sandstone. It was designed in a Beaux-Arts style with a Doric
colonnade
facing Hennepin Avenue. The train tracks ran Northwest–Southeast along the Mississippi river, under Hennepin Avenue and into a pass-through train shed.
The named trains Great Northern Empire Builder
, Chicago and Northwestern Twin Cities 400
, and Northern Pacific North Coast Limited
terminated at the Depot.
began operation in 1971—the Empire Builder. Traffic rebounded very slightly in following years, as the Arrowhead, North Coast Hiawatha, and Twin Cities Hiawatha
entered service, though these sometimes operated as combined trains from Chicago or only served the depot on alternating days. The trains continued to stop at the depot until the Midway station
opened in Saint Paul
several miles away on Mach 1, 1978.
The Great Northern Depot was demolished later that year. The area lay vacant and was adjacent to the Berman Buckskin building and the Chicago Great Western railway freight warehouse. All these buildings were torn down to make way for development; the site is occupied by the third and current Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
building. The new Target Field station for the Northstar commuter rail line was constructed at the site of Target Field
along BNSF Railway
's Wayzata Subdivision
. It is located five blocks West and two blocks North of the former depot.
Train station
A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...
that served Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
. It was built in 1913
1913 in rail transport
-February events:* February 1 - New York City's Grand Central Terminal opens as the world's largest train station to date.-May events:* May 7 - Tracklaying begins on the Graysonia, Nashville and Ashdown Railroad between Murfreesboro and Shawmut, Arkansas.-July events:* July 15 - Opening of the...
and demolished in 1978
1978 in rail transport
-February events:* February 22 - The Waverly tank car explosion was an explosion that occurred in Waverly, Tennessee following a train derailment incident days earlier...
. It was located on Hennepin Avenue
Hennepin Avenue
Hennepin Avenue is a major street in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It runs from Lakewood Cemetery , north through the Uptown District of Southwest Minneapolis, through the former "Bottleneck" area west of Loring Park, through the North Loop in the city center, to Northeast Minneapolis and...
next to the Hennepin Avenue Bridge
Hennepin Avenue Bridge
The Hennepin Avenue Bridge is the structure that carries Hennepin County State Aid Highway 52, Hennepin Avenue, across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota at Nicollet Island. Officially, it is the Father Louis Hennepin Bridge, in honor of the 17th-century explorer Louis Hennepin, who...
and across the street from the main Minneapolis Post Office
Minneapolis Post Office
The Minneapolis Post Office is the central post office for the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States. Located on the west bank of the Mississippi River, the facility extends west to east from Hennepin Avenue Bridge to the Third Avenue Bridge and north to south from the West River...
.
History
The station was sometimes called the Minneapolis Union Depot, which actually was the name of the previous station on the opposite side of Hennepin Avenue that had been in use for 30 years. The older Union Depot was razed; today, the site is used for loading docks by the central downtown Minneapolis Post Office. The Stone Arch Bridge was built to serve the original Minneapolis Union Depot, but later provided access to the Great Northern Depot. The Minneapolis BNSF Rail BridgeMinneapolis BNSF Rail Bridge
Minneapolis BNSF Rail Bridge is a combination plate girder bridge and truss bridge that spans the main channel of the Mississippi River between downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota and Nicollet Island in Minneapolis. It is located adjacent to the current Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.-History:It...
, an older crossing of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
to the north, also served the depot with a cutoff track located on the bridge.
The Minneapolis Great Northern Depot was built to serve the railroad empire of James J. Hill
James J. Hill
James Jerome Hill , was a Canadian-American railroad executive. He was the chief executive officer of a family of lines headed by the Great Northern Railway, which served a substantial area of the Upper Midwest, the northern Great Plains, and Pacific Northwest...
. It was constructed at the height of the City Beautiful movement
City Beautiful movement
The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy concerning North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of using beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. The movement, which was originally associated mainly with Chicago,...
, at a time when Minneapolis was striving to revive the decaying Bridge Square area. The building was designed by Charles Sumner Frost
Charles Sumner Frost
Charles Sumner Frost was an American architect.Born in Lewiston, Maine, Frost was first a draftsman in Boston, and a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While working in Boston he worked for the firm of Peabody and Stearns. He moved to Chicago in 1 882. There he began a...
, who had earlier designed the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Depot Freight House and Train Shed
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Depot Freight House and Train Shed
The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Depot Freight House and Train Shed , now officially named The Depot, is a historic railroad depot in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Chicago, Milwaukee, St...
, and then later the Saint Paul Union Depot
Saint Paul Union Depot
The Saint Paul Union Depot was the main train station in the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Saint Paul Union Depot Company controlled of St. Paul trackage and terminal facilities, including the depot building...
. (Frost had also supervised the construction of the Navy Pier
Navy Pier
Navy Pier is a long pier on the Chicago shoreline of Lake Michigan. It is located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side community area. The pier was built in 1916 at a cost of $4.5 million, equivalent to $ today. It was a part of the Plan of Chicago developed by architect and...
in Chicago and the Maine State Building
Maine State Building
The Maine State Building was originally at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Designed by Chicago architect Charles Sumner Frost, a Lewiston, Maine native and MIT graduate, the building was constructed of granite with a slate roof. All the materials were from Maine and crafted by craftsmen and...
at the Columbian Exposition of 1893.)
The Depot was constructed of brick and reinforced concrete. It was faced with light Kettle River
Kettle River (Minnesota)
The Kettle is a tributary of the St. Croix River, about 80 mi long, in eastern Minnesota in the United States. Via the St. Croix River, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River. The river's English name is due to the large number of large rounded holes in the sandstone in and around...
sandstone. It was designed in a Beaux-Arts style with a Doric
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
colonnade
Colonnade
In classical architecture, a colonnade denotes a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building....
facing Hennepin Avenue. The train tracks ran Northwest–Southeast along the Mississippi river, under Hennepin Avenue and into a pass-through train shed.
Trains
It was the destination for trains of several railroads that served Minneapolis, including,- Chicago and North Western RailwayChicago and North Western RailwayThe Chicago and North Western Transportation Company was a Class I railroad in the Midwest United States. It was also known as the North Western. The railroad operated more than of track as of the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states before retrenchment in the late 1970s...
(Omaha Road) - Chicago Great Western RailwayChicago Great Western RailwayThe Chicago Great Western Railway was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Kansas City. It was founded by Alpheus Beede Stickney in 1885 as a regional line between St. Paul and the Iowa state line called the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad...
- Great Northern Railway
- Northern Pacific RailwayNorthern Pacific RailwayThe Northern Pacific Railway was a railway that operated in the west along the Canadian border of the United States. Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific when former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in...
The named trains Great Northern Empire Builder
Empire Builder
The Empire Builder is a passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the Midwestern and Northwestern United States. It is Amtrak's busiest long-distance route and busiest daily train, carrying more than 500,000 travelers annually since 2007. Overall, it is the railroad's 10th-busiest line. Before...
, Chicago and Northwestern Twin Cities 400
Twin Cities 400
The 400 was a named passenger train operated by the Chicago and North Western Railway between Chicago and Saint Paul, with a final stop in Minneapolis...
, and Northern Pacific North Coast Limited
North Coast Limited
The North Coast Limited was a named passenger train operated by the Northern Pacific Railway between Chicago and Seattle via Bismarck, North Dakota...
terminated at the Depot.
Demise and reuse of the depot site
Passenger train service declined from a peak of 125 daily trains during World War II to just one route when AmtrakAmtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
began operation in 1971—the Empire Builder. Traffic rebounded very slightly in following years, as the Arrowhead, North Coast Hiawatha, and Twin Cities Hiawatha
Twin Cities Hiawatha
The Twin Cities Hiawatha was a named passenger train operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad , and traveled from Chicago to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. The original train takes its name from the epic poem The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow...
entered service, though these sometimes operated as combined trains from Chicago or only served the depot on alternating days. The trains continued to stop at the depot until the Midway station
Midway (Amtrak station)
Midway Station is the Amtrak train station in Saint Paul, Minnesota, so named after the Midway area which is roughly halfway between the downtowns of St. Paul and neighboring Minneapolis. Its Amtrak station code is MSP and serves as the only intercity train station for the Minneapolis-Saint Paul...
opened in Saint Paul
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
several miles away on Mach 1, 1978.
The Great Northern Depot was demolished later that year. The area lay vacant and was adjacent to the Berman Buckskin building and the Chicago Great Western railway freight warehouse. All these buildings were torn down to make way for development; the site is occupied by the third and current Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the United States, covers the 9th District of the Federal Reserve, including Minnesota, Montana, North and South Dakota, northwestern Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan...
building. The new Target Field station for the Northstar commuter rail line was constructed at the site of Target Field
Target Field
Target Field is a baseball park located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the home ballpark of the Minnesota Twins, the city's Major League Baseball franchise. It is the franchise's sixth ballpark and third in Minnesota. The Twins moved to Target Field for the 2010 Major League Baseball...
along BNSF Railway
BNSF Railway
The BNSF Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It is one of seven North American Class I railroads and the second largest freight railroad network in North America, second only to the Union Pacific Railroad, its primary...
's Wayzata Subdivision
Wayzata Subdivision
The Wayzata Subdivision or Wayzata Sub is a railway line that runs about from Willmar to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Currently operated by BNSF Railway, this was part of the Great Northern Railway's transcontinental line from Minneapolis to Seattle, Washington...
. It is located five blocks West and two blocks North of the former depot.
Extant
- Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Depot Freight House and Train ShedChicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Depot Freight House and Train ShedThe Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Depot Freight House and Train Shed , now officially named The Depot, is a historic railroad depot in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Chicago, Milwaukee, St...
- Former Minneapolis destination for Milwaukee Road, Soo Line, and Rock Island passenger trains - Midway (Amtrak station)Midway (Amtrak station)Midway Station is the Amtrak train station in Saint Paul, Minnesota, so named after the Midway area which is roughly halfway between the downtowns of St. Paul and neighboring Minneapolis. Its Amtrak station code is MSP and serves as the only intercity train station for the Minneapolis-Saint Paul...
- The current passenger station serving the Twin Cities - Minnehaha DepotMinnesota Transportation MuseumThe Minnesota Transportation Museum is a transport museum in Saint Paul, Minnesota.The MTM operates several heritage transportation sites in Minnesota and one in Wisconsin...
- Located near the Minnehaha falls park, part of the Minnesota Transportation Museum - Saint Paul Union DepotSaint Paul Union DepotThe Saint Paul Union Depot was the main train station in the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Saint Paul Union Depot Company controlled of St. Paul trackage and terminal facilities, including the depot building...
- Former St. Paul passenger train destination
Demolished
The following railroad depots that once existed in Minneapolis have been demolished.- Chicago Great Western RailwayChicago Great Western RailwayThe Chicago Great Western Railway was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Kansas City. It was founded by Alpheus Beede Stickney in 1885 as a regional line between St. Paul and the Iowa state line called the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad...
Station - located on South Washington Avenue at 9th avenue south, currently a parking lot. - Minneapolis and St. Louis RailwayMinneapolis and St. Louis RailwayThe Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway was an American Class I railroad that built and operated lines radiating south and west from Minneapolis, Minnesota which existed for 90 years from 1870 to 1960....
Station - located at the Southeast corner of 4th street North and Washington Avenue North, currently a parking lot. - Electric Short Line RailwayElectric Short Line RailwayThe Electric Short Line Railway, also known as Luce Electric Lines, was a railroad that operated in Minnesota, originating in Minneapolis and heading westward. The railroad owes its nickname to the fact it was operated by members of the Luce family. The railroad ultimately reached beyond Clara...
(Luce Line) Depot, shared with the Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester and Dubuque Electric Traction Company, (known as the Dan Patch Line and later the Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern RailwayMinneapolis, Northfield and Southern RailwayThe Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway was an long American short line railroad connecting Minneapolis and Northfield, Minnesota. It was incorporated in 1918 to take over the trackage of the former Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester and Dubuque Electric Traction Company, also known as...
) as well as the Minneapolis, Anoka and Cuyuna Range Interurban railway. It was located at the Northwest corner of 7th St. North and 3rd Avenue North, now Target FieldTarget FieldTarget Field is a baseball park located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the home ballpark of the Minnesota Twins, the city's Major League Baseball franchise. It is the franchise's sixth ballpark and third in Minnesota. The Twins moved to Target Field for the 2010 Major League Baseball...
. - Minneapolis Union Depot - the predecessor to the Great Northern Depot, located on the South side of Hennepin Avenue next to the Mississippi river, currently green space between the bridge and Minneapolis Central post office.
External links
- A History of Minneapolis: Transportation - from the Minneapolis Public LibraryMinneapolis Public LibraryThe Minneapolis Public Library and Information Center was a library system serving the residents of Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States. It was founded as the publicly traded Minneapolis Athenæum in 1860 and became a free public library in 1885 founded by T. B. Walker...