MANDAN Historical Society

Working to Preserve & Promote Mandan's Heritage since 2004

Welcome

Membership

Activities

Ag Stn Centennial

History Harvest

TR-Coe Exhibit

WWII Exhibit

Museum & Office

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

View Collections

Artifacts - Miscellanous

Newspapers

Pottery and Glass

Photos - Buildings

Photos - Downtown

Photos - Floods

Photos - People

Photos - Rail and Trains

What's New

NP "Queen Anne" Railway Depot
In 1877, the Northern Pacific (NP) Railway decided to resume construction of its main northern branchline west to the Yellowstone River near Glendive MT. Administrative offices and a passenger depot would be necessary on the west side of the river.

Under the direction of lead engineer Thomas Rosser (of Fort Lincoln fame and former general in the Union Army in the Civil War), the one-story 24-feet by 70-feet structure was constructed including its gable roof and a surrounding 12-foot platform. Three years later, this depot was retasked as a freight storage building and a new depot was built. The first depot turned warehouse was sold in 1912 and moved from the site.

Its replacement was designed by the famous architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White in New York City.  This same firm designed both the original portion of the West Wing at the White House in Washington, D.C. as well as the NYC mansion of NP president Henry Villard. It was 100-feet long and 32-feet wide. The brick first floor was topped with a wood framed-second floor complete with hipped wall-dormers for the windows; and topped with a bell-shaped cupola.

Built in the "Queen Anne" style, the building was surrounded by an 8-foot wide verandah supported by ornate iron pillers.  The trackside platform was 400 feet long and could accommodate up to 8 passenger cars.

1882 Depot Under Construction (Gilbert/Miller Photo)
The ground floor, level with the platform, had accommodations for employees and travelers.  The express room was 14 x 30ft in size, the ticket office was 13 x 18ft, and the baggage room was 14 x 30ft.  Per the custom at the time, a 29 x 39ft ladies' (and children's) waiting room was separate from the gentlemans' 29 x 30ft waiting room, so the women would not be exposed to "rough language" common among men.

Construction started in June 1882 and was finished in November 1882 at a total cost of $12,000 ($350,000 in 2022 dollars).

Mandan Queen Anne Depot Linen Postcard Image c. 1907
Besides the railway management offices, housed on the second floor was the Western Union telegraph office where up to nine operators were on duty 24-hours a day. The "battery room," was filled with lead-acid wet cell jars which provided back-up electrical power.

East of the depot was a plain one-story building housing the dining room and lunch counter; commonly referred to as "the beanery."

In all, the building was described as the finest depot on this side of St. Paul.

A major fire occurred in June 1920.  The cause was defective electrical wiring which likely ignited hydrogen off gases from the batteries in the telegraph operators room.  Furniture, tickets and records were rescued from the first floor, but the contents of the telegraph, yardmaster, roadmaster and trainmaster offices on the second floor were completely destroyed.

Temporary offices were set up in extra caboose cars parked on sidings east of the beanery. Since the Railroad was loosing money at the time, it decided just to rebuild the second floor with a very plain design (it replaced the "shingle" siding with straight stick wood siding.) After receiving a new coat of paint, the line operated with this depot until 1929 when it was replaced with the current "colonial-style" depot.

See [Area Landmarks] --> [NP "Colonial" RR Depot].

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