The coming of the Northern Pacific Railway to Missoula ensured the town's economic prosperity as a major transportation hub in
Western Montana. The first depot in Missoula was constructed in 1883 and was located approximately west of the current structure. This depot was planned to be replaced in 1896, but the replacement depot was destroyed by arson before it was completed. The current depot, which was completed in 1901, was designed by architects
Reed and Stem of
St. Paul, Minnesota, in a simplified Renaissance Revival style of architecture. The depot is constructed of beige Roman brick that had been salvaged by Northern Pacific from the railroad's abandoned Olympian Hotel project in
Tacoma, Washington, that would later be rebuilt as
Stadium High School. Bricks from that hotel would also be used to construct a depot at
Wallace, Idaho the same year. Passenger trains of the Northern Pacific stopped at the depot through 1971, when passenger service in the United States was taken over by
Amtrak. Amtrak continued to provide service to Missoula with the
North Coast Hiawatha until 1979. The tracks are now used for freight only, and are owned by
BNSF. The depot was placed on the
National Register of Historic Places on March 28, 1985, ==See also==