Fort Pierre Train Depot

Fort Pierre Train Depot. . , In 1880, the Chicago and North Western (C&NW) Railroad completed laying tracks from Tracy, Minnesota, to Pierre, South Dakota, part of the settling of the Dakota Territory. In 1906, a C&NW subsidiary, the Pierre, Rapid City and North Western (PRC&NW) Railroad expanded westward from the Missouri River and track was completed from Fort Pierre to Philip, a route which followed the Bad River. At the same time the PRC&NW laid tracks eastward from Rapid City to the Cheyenne River at Wasta. In 1907, the PRC&NW bridged the Missouri river and complete the section of rails from Wasta to Phillip, finally connecting the Black Hills and Fort Pierre with Pierre and the rest of the C&NW system. , Many railroad structures were constructed along the route including depots, stockyards and fueling stations. One depot was located in Fort Pierre. Built in 1906, it served customers until closing in 1958. By that time, passenger and freight usage had declined to a point that railroad service was unprofitable and may of the buildings were boarded up and abandoned. , In 1963 the railroad declared the Fort Pierre depot as surplus and sold it at auction. Shirley Miller, a rancher from Mud Butte, South Dakota was the successful bidder on the Fort Pierre , (Continued on the other side) , . Depot and four others. He moved the Fort Pierre building to his ranch in 1964 and used it as a storage building for nearly 50 years. Most folks in Fort Pierre assumed the depot was demolished. However, in 2003 the intact building was "discovered" and was subsequently donated by Shirley and Erma Miller to Fort Pierre's Verendrye Museum. , A volunteer committee was formed in 2010 to return and rehabilitate the building for use as a railroad artifact. Construction included rebuilding the roof line to the original configuration, new windows and doors, new heating, air conditioning and electrical services, a new floor, and an addition containing bathrooms required by the ADA law. With substantial community support, the reconstruction was completed in 2014. , The original location of the deport was about 200 yards north of its present location. The tracks to the west of the depot are now part of the Canadian Pacific Railroad (CP) system. In 2008 the CP purchased the rails from the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern railroad, which had purchased a portion of the C&NW system in 1986. The C&NW was merged into the Union Pacific Railroad in 1995 and ceased to exist as a separate entity.