Livingston Depot Center

Updated: August 20, 2020

Livingston Depot Center

Designed by the same architects who drew up New York City's Grand Central Station, the Depot Center itself rivals its collections within for the title of most authentic display. The Northern Pacific Railway began construction of Livingston's third train depot in late 1901?1902, and it is remarkable that this highly ornamented Italianate station was completed and dedicated by the summer of 1902.

The depot really served two purposes. Together with the roundhouse and shops, it made for one of the largest maintenance complexes between St. Paul and Seattle. With the Continental Divide just a few miles west of town, helper engines were constantly needed to take trains over Bozeman Pass. But despite its importance to the Northern Pacific's general operations, Livingston was and still is better known as the Gateway to Yellowstone National Park, the original launch point for rail travelers headed to the park beginning in 1883.

When the Livingston Depot Foundation took control of the old railroad station in the 1980s, there was virtually nothing left inside. That's all changed now that the Depot has become a bustling community center and seasonal museum. The Depot now hosts the long?running Depot Festival of the Arts each July, along with other events such as arts festivals, concerts, holiday markets, maker and craft events, and private rentals, in addition to permanent and rotating exhibits connected to railroading history and Yellowstone travel.

Before the Northern Pacific line came through town in 1883, visitors journeyed to the "New Northwest" by way of stagecoach or Missouri River steamer. Inside the Depot you can still see historic schedules and travel posters that show connecting services, along with maps of the old West that mark mountains, rivers, and the relative locations of tribal homelands?long before modern state borders or county lines.

Later, passengers steamed into town and left by stagecoach or fringe?topped surrey with room for around eight to explore the nation's first national park and curiosities like Old Faithful. (By the way, when John Colter first described the geothermal action in the area, many people did not believe his stories, and for years the place we call Yellowstone was dubbed "Colter's Hell.") The Depot Center removes its museum displays during the winter and opens up for weddings, theater, meetings, or other social functions, while the museum exhibits are generally open from Memorial Day into late summer, Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a modest admission charge.

As you enter the Depot Center, the most prominent exhibit is often the mock?up of an old agent's office, part of ?Rails Across the Rockies: A History of People and Places.? Inside the office you can see chairs and desks once occupied by agents, now set up to reveal their original arrangement. There are little cartons of water or props, ticket punchers, schedules, and even train orders lying about. An "order hoop" once caught by dexterous engineers as their freight trains passed by the station now hangs on the wall. A working telegraph sits outside the office, next to an ornate fountain, waiting for visitors to send messages up to the second?floor mezzanine?kids still have fun with this one. (I learned that the familiar [... --- ...] is actually the Morse code SOS signal for radio; telegraph landline distress signals historically varied, with common patterns like [... .. ...] used in some contexts.) Another fun and interactive exhibit is the engineer's cab, complete with levers and buttons for hands?on exploration.

Upstairs on the eastern mezzanine there is a children's gallery. The sign on the door reads: "This is a Hands on Children's Gallery PLEASE TOUCH." Here you'll find interactive displays such as telegraph and communication exhibits, train safety information, brain games, and often a model train set or other kid?friendly railroad activities, depending on the season?s layout.

Updated: August 20, 2020