Granite Falls, Minnesota Great Northern Depot
Granite Falls, Minnesota Great Northern Depot
The Great Northern depot in Granite Falls, Minnesota. Information about this depot is sparse to none. The railroad came here in 1889 as the Willmar & Sioux Falls. In 1907, the line became part of James J. Hill's Great Northern empire.
The Craftsman-style depot was built by Hanson Brothers Construction around 1940 to replace a 1909 depot that had replaced another older depot in Granite Falls.
In February 2009 the West Central Tribune reported that the Granite Falls City Council "gave the Granite Falls Historical Society the go-ahead to apply for funding to remodel and repair the Great Northern Railroad depot, but they expressed misgivings about the proposed location for it." They wanted to move it to Sorlien Park near the municipal dam and the Council was concerned that it would block the existing view of the riverfront.
In 2014 when the above photo was taken, the depot still sat in its original spot along the BNSF tracks and as you can see, the exterior renovation job that had been done on it prior to 2009 was starting to lose its luster.
In 2013, the depot was owned by the Granite Falls Historical Society. I have been unable to determine if that is still the case.