Northern Pacific Depot - Hinckley, MN - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

In 1900, the Northern Pacific Railroad Company acquired the St. Paul & Duluth Railroad, and used this depot until the mid-1960's. The building fell into disrepair after that until 1971, when a group of local residents decided to obtain funding to restore the old depot. Their goal was to restore the building as authentically as possible, and to create a museum that would tell the story of the Great Hinckley Fire of September 1, 1894. Through community effort and hard work the building was fully restored, and opened to the public on July 4, 1976. Since then, visitors from all over the country and the world have come to read and learn about the Great Hinckley Fire.

The first floor rooms include the Men's Waiting Room and the Women's Waiting Room, as well as a Freight Room that was once used to transfer freight and baggage to and from the trains. The Beanery room was once a restaurant that served meals to hundreds of daily railroad passengers and local residents, and it was common to have places at the counter set in advance of train time. Each setting included the soup and sandwich of the day with a variety of pies available, and as passengers filed into the restaurant, they simply chose the setting that offered their favorite pie. On the second floor of the depot was a five-room apartment used by the Depot Agent. Paid for by the railroad company, this living space was used by the Agent and his family, so that he might be convenient to the trains no matter what hour of arrival.

Today this building and the Hinckley Fire Museum continue to interpret the story of the Great Fire, and also chronicle the rebuilding of the town and the area's natural progression into agricultural lands.

Street address: Old U.S. 61 and 1st St SE Hinckley, MN USA 55037 County / Borough / Parish: Pine Year listed: 1973 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event Periods of significance: 1875-1899 Historic function: Transportation, Rail-Related Current function: Recreation And Culture, Museum Privately owned?: yes Season start / Season finish: From: 05/01/2008 To: 10/15/2008 Hours of operation: From: 9:00 AM To: 5:00 PM Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   02/24/2012 dunceboy visited it 09/29/2010 wildernessmama visited it 07/16/2010 paulj4400 visited it 07/17/2008 DonB! visited it 06/28/2008 meralgia visited it

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