MANDAN Historical Society

Working to Preserve & Promote Mandan's Heritage since 2004

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Ag Stn Centennial

History Harvest

TR-Coe Exhibit

WWII Exhibit

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Area History

Book: "Mantani"

The 1880s

Mandan Rodeo / Fair

School System History

The 1890s

The 1900s

1901 Pan Am Expo

1903 TR Visit to NDak

The 1910s

1910 Spring Flood

1911 Fair & Airplane Demo

1912 TR Whistle-Stop

The 1920s

Prohibition in Mandan

Mail Order Kit Homes

The 1930s

FDR Visit August 1936

The 1940s

The 1950s

1958 Lincoln Stamp FDC

Custer Drama / Trail West

The 1960s

The 1970s

The 1980s

The 1990s

1st of the 21st

2010-Present

Area Landmarks

Cary Bldg - Mandan Drug

CCC Camp Chimney

Christ the King Church

Collins Av Civic Bldg

First Lutheran Church

First National Bank Bldg

First Presbyterian Church

Great Plains Academy

Great Plains Expermt Stn

Lewis & Clark Hotel

Mandan Hill

Mandan Theatre

MV Produce Warehouse

Methodist Church

NP Beanery

NP "Colonial" RR Depot

NPRR Freighthouse

NP Rail High Bridge

Roughrider Statue

St Joseph Church

WWar Memorial Bldg

Youth Correctional Center

Gone Forever

Central School

Collins Ave Courthouse

Cummins Building

Deaconess Hospital

Eielson Field

Emerson Inst/Opera House

First St Federal Building

Havana Club

Hotel Nigey

InterOcean Hotel

Liberty Memorial Bridge

Mandan Creamery & Produce

Mandan Flour Mill

Merchants Hotel

NP "Queen Anne" Depot

Original Passenger Depot

Palace Theatre

Peoples' Hotel

Rock Haven

Topic Theatre

Young's Tavern

Heritage Homes

Altnow-Smith Home

Dunlap-Harris Home

Ellis-Uden Home

Freeburg-Esser Home

Lyon-Weigel Home

McGillic Home

Olson-Brick Home

Parkins-Cooley Home

Stutsman-Wyatt Home

Swanson-Reichman Home

Welch-Ness Home

Endowment Fund

Genealogy Links

Biographies A-C

J D Allen

Franklin Anders

Richard Baron

James Bellows

George Bingenheimer

Margaret Bingenheimer

Philip Blumenthal

Elijah Boley

Frank Briggs

Leo Broderick

William Broderick

Frank Bunting

Lyman Cary

James Clark

Henry Coe

Viola Boley Coe

Daniel Collins

Elizabeth Custer

George Custer

Biographies D-L

Alice Dahners

Henry Dahners

C E V (Charles) Draper

Esther Davis

Tony Dean

Joseph Devine

Ronald Erhardt

John Forbes

Palma Fristad

Gilbert Furness

Aloysius Galowitsch

Frederic Gerard

Zalmon Gilbert

Charles Grantier

James Hanley Jr

James Hanley Sr

Mary Harris

C Edgar Haupt

Michael Lang

William Langer

Albert Lanterman

William Lanterman

Richard Longfellow

Rolland Lutz

Hiram Lyon

Biographies M-R

George Marback

Gary Miller

Lee Mohr

Margaret Naylor

John Newton

Anton Ness

John Osterhouse

George Peoples

Arthur Peterson

Nels Romer

Hoy Russell

Walton Russell

Antonie Rybnicek

Ervin Rybnicek

Hynek Rybnicek

Biographies S-Z

Margaret Schaaf

George Shafer

Benjamin Shaw

William Simpson

Anna Knox Stark

Mary Stark

Benjamin Stephenson

J O Sullivan

John Sullivan

Era Bell Thompson

Andrew E Thorberg

Ida Thorberg

C L Timmerman

George Toman

Earle Tostevin

Edwin A Tostevin Sr

Edwin D Tostevin Jr

Walter Tostevin

Felix Vinatieri

A B Welch

Levon West

Frank Wetzstein

Harry Wheeler

Philomena Yunck

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Photos - Floods

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What's New

NP Railway Beanery - 411 W Main St
In November 1928, the NP Railway District Engineer was pushing for a new depot. Meanwhile, the Mandan NP lunchroom was under the direction of an energetic new manager, which was pulling in between $1,000 and $1,500 per month net profit for the railroad.  He was doing it by attracting local patrons, despite a building that was "old, inadequate, and in need of repair."

NP management included a new lunch room building in the budget for the 1929 reconstruction.  One NP executive objected to building a separate lunch room on grounds that it would compete with local businesses in Mandan.  But the separate lunchroom was approved anyway.

Click to Enlarge
The original Mandan depot lunchroom was located east of the former Queen Anne - style depot.  The new lunchroom was located to the west so that the prior lunchroom could be converted into an express baggage handling area to serve the surge in cargo destined for the newly opened north and south branch lines.  However the demand for freight services was so great, that a new brick freight house was constructed west of the beanery along Main St. 

The construction of a new depot and lunchroom also included the construction of a 1,000 ton refrigerator type ice house for passenger train service located east of the eastside park and service building, SE of the Main St and 2nd Ave NW intersection.

The "Beanery" building was modified several times.  In 1930 a water softening plant was installed in the basement to provide softened water to the depot, the lunch room and passenger cars stopped at the deport.  This facility was removed in 1942 when a connection was made to city water.  Air conditioning was installed in 1936, partly because a coffee shop across the street also got air conditioning the same year.

c. 1943 NP Beanery With Weather Shelter Courtesy of Lorenz Schrenk Private Collection
In 1943, a vestibule was built outside the front door.  The large numbers of wartime travelers created congestion at the front entrance, which was near the magazine stand and cashier, and caused excessive loss of heat as passengers tried to entered and leave the building.  In 1947, because of the practice of locking restrooms in the depot between trains, more people were using those in the basement of the building.  Consequently, new restrooms were constructed to the east side of the lunchroom.  In 1959, when the NP power plant was retired, a gas-fired boiler was installed in the basement of the lunchroom to heat the lunch room, the depot, the freight house and other nearby buildings.

The Beanery and Depot buildings were bought by the City of Mandan in 1988 after standing vacant for 10 years after passenger service in the south central and southwest portion of the state was suspended by Amtrak.

In 2008, space in the Beanery was leased to several community organizations including the Mandan Historical Society for a museum, the Mandan Art Association for a gallery and Mandan Progress Association for their adminstrative offices.  In 2011, the Historical Society's lease was terminated to make room for additional gallery space.  In 2013, the Art Association downsized to open the way for a confectionary and pastery business and would close its operations in 2014.

In
2017, the latest chapter began with the move of the Five Nations Art store, operated by the Fort Lincoln Foundation, from the main depot to the smaller beanery building. 

 
This information was obtained in large part from the Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association and their publication "The Mainstreeter" Volume 16 No. 3 Summer 1997 issue written by Lorenz P. Schrenk.  Additional information on the construction is taken from the 24 January 1931 edition of "Railway Age" article entitled Colonial Design Embodied in New NP Station by Lowry Smith; NP Office Engineer St Paul, MN.
 

The MHSoc's museum and office is located at 3827 30th Avenue NW; PO Box 1001; Mandan, ND 58554
Contact us at info@mandanhistory.org


Last Updated 03/28
/23    ©  2007-2023  Mandan Historical Society   All rights reserved