Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Depot, Steamboat Springs Colorado

Date added: April 30, 2025

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In 1906 prominent citizens of Steamboat Springs convened to raise funds to bring the main line of the Denver, Northwestern & Pacific Railway to Steamboat Springs. The community subscribed about $15,000, although this had to be resubscribed two years later owing to construction delays. Nonetheless, the railroad laid rail to Steamboat Springs in 1908, and Frank E. Edbrooke, a noted Denver architect, was commissioned to design a depot. He did this, and the structure was completed in July 1909, a few months after the first trains rolled into town. From that time forward until passenger service was abandoned in 1968, the depot served as the nexus of rail transportation into and out of Steamboat Springs. In 1970 the newly formed Steamboat Springs Council of the Arts & Humanities persuaded the town to purchase and renovate the building as a cultural center.

Frank E. Edbrooke was one of Denver's most noted architects and designed several notable properties including, the Brown Palace Hotel, Central Presbyterian Church, the Fisher Mansion, and the Fitzroy Place.

Building Description

Located on the banks of the Yampa River in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, the Steamboat Springs Depot is a single detached structure rectangular in shape. The building has two stories plus a long rectangular wing projecting from the west facade, thus making the overall structure very slightly T shaped. The north and south facades have six bays, the east facade two bays, and the west facade one bay. The foundation is rock and mortar; the exterior above is red brick, eight to twelve inches thick, set in stretcher bond with brick soldiers over the head of the windows and doors and with a rusticated quoin pattern at the wall corners. The two-story part of the structure has a medium hip roof while the one-story wing has a bellcast hip. The boxed, plain roof cornice rests on projecting, scrolled wooden brackets. Two chimneys with a decorative cap project from the east and west facades through the roof. The main door, located in the south facade, is situated off center. The windows on the first floor of the main structure are two sashed and double hung while those on the upper story are single sashed and double hung; these windows all have stone sills. The wing has four bay windows.

The interior of the depot has been converted into a theater. The inner wood partition that divided the warehouse section from the waiting area was removed to provide greater seating area. A floating oak floor was installed over the old asphalt floor in the warehouse section while the old waiting area or lobby was painted and also had a new floor installed. Two washrooms on the first floor were improved and the old stationmasters quarters on the second story renovated to provide an apartment for the caretaker. Four bay windows were installed in the warehouse section to provide seats, storage, or dressing areas.

On the south, the building is separated from the railroad tracks by a hand-wrought iron fence, five feet high, 100 feet long, and with two double gates six feet high. It was originally erected in 1905 at 1140 Grant Street in Denver, Colorado, and donated to Steamboat Springs for use at the Depot. The fence is of the same era as the Depot and compatible with it.