Winona, Minnesota Milwaukee Road Depot
Winona, Minnesota Milwaukee Road Depot
The Winona Milwaukee Road Depot was built to the hilt in 1888, in part to compete with Chicago & North Western’s massive depot that had been built in Winona in 1880. The building was designed by railroad architect John T. W. Jennings, and contained numerous architectural features inside and out, some of which have been removed over the years. It has survived, largely intact, as an elegant, pseudo-Romanesque-style building.
In its heyday, this depot played host to several whistle-stops, including visits by presidents Grover Cleveland, Teddy Roosevelt and Harry Truman. It was a stop on the Twin Cities Hiawatha and other Hiawatha routes between Minneapolis and Chicago.
After the Milwaukee Road went bankrupt in the 1980s, the depot was eventually taken over by the Canadian Pacific Railroad. The station was saved at the urging of the community. The once-grand Chicago North Western depot had been demolished in 1980; they didn’t want to see their other grand depot go the same way.
Winona's Lost Depot, the Chicago North Western built in 1880 and razed in 1980
Today, Amtrak uses part of the historic Milwaukee Road Depot as a passenger station on its Empire Builder route and the Canadian Pacific uses the remainder of the space as offices. It hosts two passenger trains a day, and is one of Amtrak’s busiest Minnesota stations, being surpassed only by the St. Paul Amtrak depot. This volume is more than likely due to Winona’s proximity to Rochester and the Mayo Clinic.
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013, NRHP Ref # 13000327.
