Northern Pacific Depot
National Register of Historic Places

Northern Pacific Depot

Fergus Falls, Otter Tail County, Minnesota
Listed
January 7, 2022
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
100007347

About this property

Fergus Falls station is a historic building located in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2022 as the Northern Pacific Depot. The St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway, later known as the Great Northern Railway, was the first railroad to reach Fergus Falls in 1879. George B. Wright, who developed the city, continued to lobby the Northern Pacific Railway to come here and they arrived in 1882. Its first depot was located on the site of the present building. The wood-frame structure suffered two fires with the second fire destroying it in 1892. The second depot at this location was also a wood-frame building that was destroyed in fire in 1903. A third frame depot was completed the same year and it was destroyed in the 1919 Fergus Falls tornado. The present brick Neoclassical depot was completed in 1920. The combination passenger and freight depot was built on the location of the former freight depot. It was a larger facility than any other of the previous depots in Fergus Falls, which suggests the increase in business for the Northern Pacific over the years. The last passenger train left the depot in 1959. The facility continued to serve as a freight depot until 1970 when it closed after the Northern Pacific merged with other railroads to form the Burlington Northern Railroad. Operations in Fergus Falls were transferred to the former Great Northern Depot, which now houses the Otter Tail Valley Railroad. After sitting empty for years, the former Northern Pacific depot was renovated in 2014. It now houses a restaurant.

Location

423 South Cascade St.
Fergus Falls, Otter Tail County, Minnesota
46.27971, -96.07177

Categories

TRANSPORTATION
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Otter Tail County Courthouse
Civil War
0.2 mi
Fergus Falls City Hall
Industrial
0.2 mi
Mason, John W., House
Industrial
0.2 mi
River Inn
Industrial
0.2 mi
Hotel Kaddatz
Industrial
0.3 mi

Questions about this property

When was Northern Pacific Depot listed on the National Register?

Northern Pacific Depot was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 7, 2022.

What type of historic resource is Northern Pacific Depot?

Northern Pacific Depot is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Northern Pacific Depot?

The period of significance for Northern Pacific Depot is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Northern Pacific Depot?

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