Alder Gulch Short Line Depot

Alder Gulch Short Line Depot. . The tracks of the Northern Pacific Railroad never really came to Virginia City. Although the town was the first overland transportation hum in the Territory of Montana and an important regional supply center, this status predates the railroad era. When the Northern Pacific finally reached Alder Gulch at the turn of the century, the tracks ended at Alder. , The depot area was home to Chinese residents that comprised nearly one third of the town's population in 1870. Confined to the west end of town, the Chinese lived in small cabins and cultivated rooftop gardens. Most were miners who reworked placer claims abandoned after the gold rush but shopkeepers and launderers did a lively trade. At temple once stood nearby where traditional religious practices were observed. Nothing remains on the landscape to mark this early community. By 1875, a dam partially flooded the area to supply water for hydraulic mining and in 1900, gold dredges camp up the gulch as far as this point. , In 1964, Charles Bovey built the Alder Gulch Short Line narrow gauge railroad to link Virginia City and Nevada City. The Northern Pacific was built according to standard railroad plans in the early 1890s at Harrison, Montana north of Ennis. After completion of the narrow gauge, Charles Bovey had the depot moved to this location. One old-timer remarked upon its arrival, "This is the first time I ever went to the train and watched the depot pull in."