Passenger Train Station and Freight Depot in MN


Northern Pacific Railway Depot and Freight house, Staples Minnesota
Looking northeast (1984)

Do you have an update on the current status of this structure? Please tell us about it in the comments below.

The Northern Pacific Depot and freight house in Staples, Minnesota were built in 1902. The railway dominated the development and the economy from 1889 until well into the twentieth century. Located on the main line of the Northern Pacific line, the Staples depot is an extremely well-preserved example of the type of work produced by staff architects of the railway.

In 1889 the Northern Pacific rerouted its main line to run between Little Falls and Staples, where it relocated its division headquarters. Prior to this date, the community of Staples Mill was only a hamlet whose economy centered around a lumber mill. The railway replaced the mill as the center of the town's economy, and brought in many people to work at the shops and offices that it built. Most early buildings on the yards were frame, but brick was used in the seventeen-stall roundhouse and in the boiler and sand houses. Gradually all the frame buildings were replaced by more permanent brick structures. One reason for this may have been the threat of fire. Many buildings in the commercial district of Staples burned in 1899; the railway's freight house burned in 1902.

The railroad's facilities expanded between 1889 and 1910. A second, larger roundhouse was built between 1904 and 1909. Stockyards, used for the feeding and watering of cattle being shipped on the main line, were built in 1908.

Of all the structures that were built, only the depot, the freight house, and several incidental shed buildings survive.

The combination passenger station and office building was constructed in 1909-10 from plans prepared by the staff of the railway's engineering department.

The building is similar in design to other station facilities constructed in Minnesota at about the same time including Detroit Lakes (1908), Wadena (1910-13), and St. Cloud (1909). The Staples depot is larger, though, and is in better condition. The depot structure was erected immediately north of an older frame building that had been used for a depot. Following the completion of the present depot, this earlier building was removed.

The freight house is currently vacant. The depot serves as the regional passenger facility for the Amtrack passenger system, and its upstairs offices continue in railway use. Both the depot and surrounding grounds are in very good condition, altered little since they were built.

Site Description

The Northern Pacific Railway Depot was built in 1910, adjacent to extensively developed rail service facilities at the division headquarters and yards located at Staples. When built, the depot building accommodated passenger, baggage, and express facilities on its lower floor, and offices for the division headquarters on the second floor. Both the depot and an accompanying freight house are sited on a narrow strip of land bordered by the railway yards on the south and 1st Avenue on the north. The depot lies slightly west of 4th Street Northwest, Staples principal commercial street. The freight house is approximately 800 feet west of the depot.

The depot building is rectangular in plan and oriented with its long side parallel to the street and the tracks. It is of brick construction above a poured concrete foundation. Face brick is cream-colored pressed brick laid in a butter joint. A single-story porte-cochere measuring twenty by twenty-four feet extend from the east and west sides of the depot. The depot building itself measures one hundred fourteen by forty feet.

The styling of the building is Classical Revival. Its form and detailing are simple, a typical characteristic of buildings designed by staff architects of the N.P. Railway's Engineering Department. Stone belt courses are placed at the water table and below the first-floor window openings. All window openings are flat arched, and contain double-hung sash. First-floor openings are surmounted by fixed upper lights, whose sash are divided into several lights. The roof is hipped. Large hipped dormers are placed at the centers of the north and south side roof sections; smaller hipped dormers originally flanking these and on the east and west roof sections have been removed. At the first floor level, an awning runs continuously around the building even in height to the roofs of the porte-cochere.

Passenger, baggage and express facilities are located on the first floor. The main waiting room, approximately forty feet square, lies west of the center of the building. A ladies' waiting room and toilet are at the west end. The baggage and express room is at the far east end of the building. The ticket office lies between the baggage and waiting rooms, and has a projecting bay window which overlooks the tracks. A stairwell between the baggage room and the ticket office provides access to the upstairs offices.

The second-floor offices are arranged along a double-loaded central corridor. A small stair off the corridor leads to the attic. Originally used as sleeping rooms for trainmen in transit, it is now used for storage.

The buildings' exterior and interior public spaces are in remarkably good, intact condition. The terrazzo floors, glazed brick wainscot, and plaster walls and ceiling in the waiting rooms have not been altered from their original appearance. The roof has had asbestos shingles applied. Several of the upper-floor windows have had their sash replaced by plywood panels.

Surrounding the depot building is a platform of red-colored paving brick laid in a herringbone pattern. This paving extends approximately twenty feet on all sides of the building. Sixteen-foot wide platforms also extend along the two tracks nearest the station. One of these tracks was used for westbound trains, the other for eastbound. A third track was used for trains bound for Brainerd and Duluth.

A single-story brick freight house lies approximately eight hundred feet west of the depot. This building, thought to be built in 1902 following the destruction by fire of an earlier frame freight house, measures approximately forty-five by one hundred twenty feet. The building has a low sloping gabled roof, and rests on an elevated poured concrete foundation. A wood platform extends along the front, track side of the building. Wooden doors in segmental-arched openings open onto both the track and street sides of the building. Unlike the depot, this building has not been well-maintained.

Its brickwork needs repointing and has begun to deteriorate in several areas.

Northern Pacific Railway Depot and Freight house, Staples Minnesota Looking northeast (1984)
Looking northeast (1984)

Northern Pacific Railway Depot and Freight house, Staples Minnesota Looking northwest (1984)
Looking northwest (1984)

Northern Pacific Railway Depot and Freight house, Staples Minnesota Looking northeast (1984)
Looking northeast (1984)

Northern Pacific Railway Depot and Freight house, Staples Minnesota Looking southwest (1984)
Looking southwest (1984)