Built in 1892, the brick depot was a replacement for an earlier wood framed depot. In 1892, with Bozeman vying for the title of state capitol, the town and Northern Pacific got together and built this station, much more impressive than the wood framed building it replaced, in order to better its chances in the capitol bid. Bozeman may not be the state capitol, but it got a better railway station for its efforts.
This depot served the town as a passenger station until improvements in alternate transportation methods and highways obsoleted it in the '70s. With the exception of a brief stint as a set in the movie
, the building has been used for storage ever since.
In 1997 a group of entrepreneurs made Montana Rail Link an offer to lease the building, in which they hoped to install a brewery, Hellroaring Brewing Co. Though nothing came of it and the building remains empty, there is still sporadic interest in the building and its potential for the future. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle article, below, recaps the Hellroaring Brewing Co. incident.
Brewery planned at depot
By ANN ARBOR MILLER | Oct 29, 1997
The Northern Pacific Depot once served not only train passengers, but also as a telegraph station, mail drop and all around gossip center.
“It was very much a social center for years and years,” said Derek Strahn, the city’s historic preservation officer.
The depot began losing its role as the gateway to Bozeman with the construction of the nation’s interstates and decline of passenger rail service during the 1950s and ’60s.
However, the building may again become a social hub as three entrepreneurs look to open the Hellroaring Brewing Co. in the boarded up, brick building on Front Street.
Al Borrego, Doug Child and Jim Horan, the proprietor of Bozeman’s Hellroaring Homebrew Supply Store, want to turn the dilapidated depot into a brewery complete with tasting room and pub restaurant.
Aside from making a buck in the microbrew market, Horan said they hope to save the building that has stood relatively vacant since the late ’70s.
Montana Rail Link, which owns the building, confirmed a lease application from Hellroaring Brewing Co. has been submitted.
Interest in Bozeman’s old depot has been sporadic over the years, Frost said.
More than 30 train depots around the country have been converted into breweries, Horan said. Stations in Missoula, Billings and Livingston are among the converts. The appeal of the former train stops rests in their character, high ceilings and cement floors, all of which are important to brewers, he said. Depots typically sit in low rent districts, which is also helpful.
The building was constructed by Northern Pacific Railroad in 1892 as a replacement for the original wooden depot that burned down, Strahn said. In the 1920s an addition, designed by Fred Willson, was affixed to the east end.
History tells of small parks on either side of the depot that drew locals to shade trees and benches for a bit of gossip, Strahn said.
From the Bozeman Daily Chronicle