Originally built by the Montana Union Railway, this station was built before the turn of the century, in 1889 or 1890. The railway was organized on June 28, 1886 as a joint company of Northern Pacific and Union Pacific. This small nine mile long section of track, known as the Stuart Section, branched off the main line at Stuart, 9.8 miles east of Anaconda. It was a three track line, with both narrow and standard gauge track. The entire Montana Union Railway was very profitable, hauling material, ore, metals and supplies both to and from the mines and smelters in the Butte area.
On May 1, 1898 the Anaconda Copper Mining Company's subsidiary railway, the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific, leased the Stuart section from the Montana Union Railway, connecting it with their own rail line leading from Stuart to Butte.
Passenger service was begun on this section from Anaconda to Butte immediately after the tracks reached Anaconda and continued until discontinuation by the BA&P in 1955, at which time this station may have been used to ship and receive freight for some time. For some time now the station has been a hardware store, restored and refurbished, yet still possessed of its general appearance as a railway station.
On the Main Street end of the station is an old stone arch, within which is a beautiful mural of an old steam locomotive.
EDIT: Further research has uncovered the following:
Robert Nickel [Architect]
While working in Butte between approximately 1891 and 1896, Robert Nickel designed a few substantial buildings in Anaconda. He specialized in railroad depot construction, designing buildings for both the Montana Union and the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific Railway. His services, however, were never formally advertised in either the Anaconda City Directories or the local newspapers. He left Montana in approximately 1898.
Buildings: Montana Union Depot, Corner of North Main and East Front Street (constructed, 1890; condition, altered)
From the National Register Continuation form, page 57-58
Others documented to have been designed by him have all been demolished.