Livingston Depot Center
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- General info
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Built by the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1902, the grand Italian style Passenger depot complex holds art and cultural museum with records of railroading in the Pacific Northwest and Montana. There are exhibits of photographs describing one of America’s most important industries. Hands-on displays for children, including a small train, make this a really fun stopover.
The Depot wears two hats. We’re a great museum from approximately Memorial Day to Labor Day (see above for special 2021 schedule details when available) with historic exhibits and cultural programs, and the rest of the year we serve as an affordable but classy community center and events venue for the area residents and visitors. We’ve hosted holiday events, historic talks, film festivals, conferences and movies on the lawn, jazz and blues concerts, swap meets for rail enthusiasts, the Depot Festival of the Arts, and more. A museum with rail traffic passing right out front daily, or a venue for a couple to tie the knot in a beautiful NP station - how cool is that?
It’s a rich history. Although the NP first introduced service to the Park through Livingston in 1883, the third Depot, completed in 1902, reflected the apex of a busy and graceful age. It was designed by Reed & Stem, the original architects for New York City’s Grand Central Station, to be a worthy showcase. Its majestic colonnade and ornate architectural detail greeted rail travelers until 1979 when AMTRAK suspended passenger service to southern Montana. The Burlington Northern, the successor to the NP, briefly used it for offices until donating it to the City of Livingston in 1985. Two years and a thorough restoration later, the Depot Center opened under the oversight of the Livingston Depot Foundation, a member-based non-profit dedicated to preserving this monument to the area’s rich past in ongoing service into the future.
The Depot is a lively intersection of past and present in the heart of downtown Livingston, adjacent to Depot Rotary Park and live train traffic. Read more about us on this site - how to get here, what events are around the corner, modern and historic photos, all kinds of things.
History, culture, arts, and more - with train whistles and the Northern Rockies for a backdrop!
Tours are also available through The Mountain Rockies Rail Tours. The museum is open from May through September and there is a modest admission fee.
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Livingston Depot Center