Livingston Commercial District - Livingston, Montana - Montana Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

LIVINGSTON COMMERCIAL DISTRICT
As the Northern Pacific Railroad pushed its tracks westward in 1882, representatives arrived at this bend in the Yellowstone River to open a company store. They pitched a tent, stocking it with 140,000 pounds of goods hauled by ox-drawn wagons. Other merchants set up shop as track-laying crews spilled into Clark City. By 1883, Northern Pacific surveyors had platted a townsite nearby for their division headquarters, and Clark City's tents moved to the new town of Livingston. Named after a company director, Livingston's early Main Street was a muddy track bordered by wooden sidewalks, and the false-fronted wooden stores, offices, and many saloons did a lucrative business. Madame Bulldog's Bucket of Blood Saloon served a rowdy and transient clientele, among them the notorious Martha "Calamity Jane" Cannary. In 1885-86, fires destroyed much of downtown prompting reconstruction of more substantial, permanent brick buildings. Advertising painted on downtown buildings boasted all manner of goods and services while local cigar factories, mills, brickyards, and breweries further assured Livingston's survival. By the 1890s, the town had become essential to tourists as the departure point for Yellowstone Park. Finally, the construction of the grand Northern Pacific depot in 1901-02 displayed the railroad's promotion of Park tourism and commitment to Livingston's future.
From the NRHP plaque

Northern Pacific Depot
This latter building [the Northern Pacific Depot] consists of a large, three-story office and waiting room structure and two, lower wings containing the baggage room and a cafe, all connected by a curved colonnade. The composition recalls a Palladian villa. Terra cotta ornamentation is richly plastic, especially in the colonnade pediments, where N.P. "monads" are treated as cartouches. The Depot is the most prominent landmark in the city because of its location, size, and design quality.

The Northern Pacific's interest in Livingston, its Yellowstone Division headquarters and departure point for Park tourists, is evinced by construction of the monumental Passenger Depot between 1901 and 1902. To design it, the company employed Reed and Stem of St. Paul, an architectural firm which specialized in railway stations. While Livingston's Depot was under construction, Reed and Stem, with Warren and Wetmore, undertook the design for Grand Central Station, New York City. Other Reed and Stem commissions include depots or stations in Tacoma, Missoula, Bismark, Troy, and Scarsdale. The Livingston Depot is an architectural work of national significance for both the quality of its design and as a relic of the great age of American railroading, Burlington Northern maintains offices in the building today.
From the NRHP Nomination Form