Alberton, Montana, USA - City and Town Halls on Waymarking.com

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Alberton, Montana, USA

in City and Town Halls

Posted by:  T0SHEA

11T E 691837 N 5208534

Once along the Milwaukee Road mainline which reached to the Pacific Coast, the Alberton Station was long ago abandoned, to be repurposed by the town.

This Craftsman style depot was built by the Milwaukee Road as it pushed its way westward. Between 1906 and 1909 the line extended its line from North Dakota to Seattle creating yet another transcontinental route for passengers and freight. As it pushed through western Montana it followed the Clark Fork River, passing through Alberton in 1908 and building this depot as it passed, as well as a roundhouse, turntable and locomotive repair shops, making Alberton a division point. The depot remained in use by the railroad until possibly as late as 1980, the year that the line was abandoned and the depot sold to the town of Alberton. Today the depot houses the Alberton Town Hall, the Alberton Community Centre, the Alberton branch of the Mineral County Public Library, the senior citizens center and the American Legion. They seem to have squeezed half of the town's services into the building. Given that Alberton was made a divisional point, the depot was substantially larger than the norm, built to include a passenger waiting room, station master's office, rest rooms, ticket booth, freight warehouse and living quarters for the station master and family.

When the railroad arrived the citizens of Alberton felt assured of its future growth and prosperity as a division point on the railroad. It continued to grow slowly until a decision made by the railroad in 1917 changed its future course forever. The Milwaukee Road felt that it would improve its then meagre bottom line to electrify much of the railway in Montana, sounding the death knell for further growth in Alberton, as the railway shops and roundhouse would no longer be needed for electric locomotives. Alberton's population shrank and no new construction was undertaken in the town. As a result most of the town consists of the wood frame buildings which existed by 1917, with only a few more substantial buildings having been erected in the town since that time. Today Alberton's population has stabilized at around 450.

Each year Alberton celebrates its railroad heritage with Alberton's Railroad Day, held the third Saturday in July. This year, (2017), will mark the 32nd anniversary of this community event.

Alberton Montana

The Milwaukee Railroad Depot is an outstanding historic building for its associations with rail transportation history in Alberton, Montana. It is the only, and historically most important, building remaining in the community that was associated with the founding of the community as a rail freight division point. For these reasons, it is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

The Milwaukee Railroad Depot was constructed in Alberton in 1908, and quickly became an anchor in the town's commercial district. During the early years, passenger trains stopped at the Alberton Depot for thirty minutes each day. Travelers would rest and eat at "The Beanery" located in the depot, or walk north across Railroad Avenue (Main Street or Highway 10) to the saloons, restaurants and other Alberton businesses.

The history of Alberton Montana is a tale of the Milwaukee Railroad, which was a national train that ran through our small town. The Milwaukee depot is now restored and used as the town hall, library, senior citizens center and by the American Legion. And the Antique Depot is also a restored building from that era.

With the frontier West evident in the architecture of our town's "main street" ~ Railroad Avenue ~ Alberton, Montana, treasures its heritage.

The town was established more than 100 years ago as a "terminal station" for the Milwaukee Railroad. Traces of this industry can still be seen, though the tracks and overhead lines of what became America's first electrified, transcontinental railroad are long gone.

Today, the station depot serves as the Community Center and Library. An authentic Boxcar contains our Railroad Museum; and the sweet Caboose inside looks just as it did when it last rode the rails.With the frontier West evident in the architecture of our town's "main street" ~ Railroad Avenue ~ Alberton, Montana, treasures its heritage.

The town was established more than 100 years ago as a "terminal station" for the Milwaukee Railroad. Traces of this industry can still be seen, though the tracks and overhead lines of what became America's first electrified, transcontinental railroad are long gone.
From the Alberton Museum