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In 1927, West Yellowstone's Union Pacific station manager J. L. Amos recommended approval of new signage designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood to the Union Pacific's specifications. This plan included the construction of a stone and concrete pylon at the east end of the railroad property, north of the railroad tracks and near the park boundary. The pylon featured two terra cotta Union Pacific shields in red, white, and blue.


Everyone departing from the depot or from elsewhere in Town passed by this pylon as they entered the park, reminding them of the role that the Union Pacific Railroad played in providing visitor access.  The pylon remains in its original location within the Historic District, in an area now known as Dunbar Park. Visitors entering Yellowstone National Park via the West Entrance continue to pass by this monument. 

Union Pacific Pylon

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The first passenger train arrived in West Yellowstone on June 11, 1908. A wooden depot and several businesses greeted the first visitors. Following the completion of the rail line, the Union Pacific Oregon Short Line turned its attention to constructing facilities for train operations and passenger care at its new terminus. This walking tour includes the old depot, baggage building, dining lodge, and more. The tour includes a stop at the Yellowstone Historic Center Museum, which is located in the old depot building.

The Union Pacific Depot is the oldest remaining structure in West Yellowstone's Oregon Short Line Historic District. The depot was completed in 1909, replacing a temporary wooden structure that served as the depot in 1908. The station was designed by the Union Pacific Railroad's Engineering Office.&nbsp;<br><br>Soon after its construction, the Union Pacific described the depot as "built of stone, very substantial, spacious, and artistic. It is electric heated by steam, and provides large waiting rooms, an individual dressing room for ladies, two large fireplaces, drinking fountains, etc. In it are the usual ticket and Pullman offices and the office of the Monida and Yellowstone Stage Co. The trains approach on the south side while the stages receive and deliver passengers under the porte-cochere on the north side."<br><br>The Depot is a single-story, hip-roofed building, constructed of dimensional wood framing, brick, concrete, and quarry-faced native rhyolite stone. The stone came from nearby railroad right-of-ways. The central portion of the building measures 117 by 44 feet, while the east and west wings are 71 by 33 feet and 51 by 33 feet respectively.&nbsp;<br><br>The central part of the building included the waiting areas, the ticketing counters, and the porte-cochere. From the train platform, passengers entered the south side of the building through double doors into either the women's or the men's waiting rooms. Each of these rooms had a massive stone fireplace for heating. The waiting areas had wooden benches and large tables with chairs where passengers could scribe their letters and postcards. The ticket counter (which originally included the Monida and Yellowstone Stage Company office) and the telegraph office, a vestibule, and a news stand separated the two waiting rooms. Two sets of double doors led from the vestibule to the coach/bus loading platform.&nbsp;<br><br>The two "wings" of the building housed the dressing rooms and toilets. Private dressing rooms and showers were an unusual feature for a train depot. In West Yellowstone, they were necessary to accommodate the arriving train passengers who wanted to change from their train-travel clothing into stage-coach travel clothing. Coats, hats, and dusters were available at local vendors to rent for park travel. Passengers returning from the park could shower and change back into their "good" clothes for their return trip to Idaho and Salt Lake City.&nbsp;<br><br>Originally, the east wing of the depot served as the storage area for the passengers' excess baggage while they toured the park. By the early 1920s, the number of passengers had increased to the extent that the new Baggage Building was constructed and the east wing was converted to the Women's Dressing Room. That same year, the north porte-cochere was extended to cover the buses and provide room for the increasing number of travelers. The previous narrow porch made for a crowded line-up waiting for the stages and the subsequent buses. The concrete platform along the track was extended to the west to accommodate the longer trains.&nbsp;<br><br>Following the 1923 modifications, the building remained much the same, especially the exterior. In 1972, major changes were made throughout the depot to convert its use to a privately-operated museum. Especially significant was the removal of women's dressing rooms and toilets in the east wing of the building, as well as the removal of some of the dressing room partitions in the west wing. Many of the men's restroom facilities still remain today.&nbsp;<br><br>In 2000, the Yellowstone Historic Center leased the depot from the Town of West Yellowstone. The YHC spearheaded many major repair and restoration projects, including replacing the shingle roof, restoring interior features such as the ticket counter, repairing the ceilings, and upgrading electrical services and lines. The depot now is the home of the Yellowstone Historic Center Museum.

Fascination with the Yellowstone area began with the first trappers' incredulous tales of gushing geysers and gurgling mud pots. Since being established as the world's first National Park in 1872, curious travelers have ventured from every corner of the world to experience this place called "Wonderland." Our museum, housed in the 1909 Union Pacific Depot, offers exhibits which interpret the heritage of travel to Yellowstone. The Museum features interactive displays, rare artifacts, weekly educational programs, guest speakers, daily films, and guided walking tours of the Union Pacific historic district. We invite you to join us when you visit West Yellowstone! 

Yellowstone Historic Center Museum (Former Union Pacific Depot)

In 1920, Union Pacific officials proposed constructing a separate baggage building, immediately west of the depot. Passenger traffic to the park increased, and the original baggage handling area in the east wing of the depot was no longer adequate. Also, the depot space was needed to provide additional changing rooms for the passengers.


By the fall of 1921, the basic structure was completed. However, a change of plans was made which included facing the building with stone in a similar fashion to the depot. This delayed completion until 1922.  

The building was altered for use as the Town's police station around 1975. The original window and door openings have been maintained but have been in-filled; modern metal doors and windows have been added in some of the openings. The original roof, presumably shingle, has been replaced with a standing seam metal roof.

Union Pacific Old Baggage Building

When the Union Pacific Railroad first arrived in West Yellowstone in 1908, passengers continued their journey into Yellowstone on stagecoaches. In August 1915, cars were permitted in the park, marking the beginning of the end of stagecoach service. By 1917, cars and buses had completely replaced stagecoaches on Yellowstone's roads. At that time, tour buses began picking up train passengers at the depot.

The stagecoach shelter, located between the baggage building and the dining lodge, was constructed in 1928, over a decade after the end of the stagecoach era. This structure served as a protected location for exhibiting a stagecoach. The stagecoach exhibit was a reminder of the earlier mode of visitor transportation before the rise of the automobile. Today, the structure shelters a picnic table rather than a stage coach. There are some stagecoaches on display on the porch of the former depot, now the Yellowstone Historic Center Museum, located on the east end of the same block.

The stagecoach shelter is an open-sided, single-story, hip-roofed structure. The roof is supported by four full-round, unpeeled logs resting on concrete footings. The roof structure is made from peeled full-round logs, and the roof is finished with cedar wood shingles.

Union Pacific Stagecoach Shelter

The first eating house known as "The Beanery" was constructed in 1908, approximately 1,000 feet west of the depot. The building housed the kitchen and the serving area.&nbsp;<br><br>By 1920, Union Pacific officials had recognized the need for better accommodations and schedules for serving meals to its customers. A Rest Pavilion was completed in 1922. This open-air shelter provided a place for travelers compelled to wait for a "second-seating" in the beanery. Located between the beanery and the depot, the rest pavilion was constructed of logs and shingles and was open-sided. The railroad also attempted to stagger the arrival time of trains into West Yellowstone so more people than the restaurant could handle would not arrive at the same time. When these tactics failed to adequately address the situation, the Union Pacific officials proceeded with plans to construct a new restaurant that could serve up to 350 guests in one seating.&nbsp;<br><br>In 1925, the Union Pacific hired architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood to design a new dining facility. Following his graduation from Harvard with a master's degree in architecture in 1923, Underwood worked closely with Daniel Hull, a planner and designer with the National Park Service Landscape Division. Together, they played a role in developing the NPS's "Rustic Architecture" style, defined as a style that uses native materials in proper scale, avoids rigid, straight lines, gives the feeling of having been crafted by pioneer craftsmen with limited tools, and achieves a connection to their natural surroundings and to the past. Among Underwood's designs are Yellowstone's Old Faithful Lodge and Yosemite's Ahwahnee Lodge.&nbsp;<br><br>The new Dining Lodge was completed in the fall of 1925, in time for the 1926 season. The lodge incorporated the rest pavilion, which became the Firehole Room at the east end of the lodge, serving as the lounge area. The dining hall incorporated a large central eating space (the Mammoth Room) with a massive, arrowhead-shaped fireplace, a kitchen large enough to prepare over 1,000 meals per day; a large service wing containing the employee dining hall, a bakery, butcher shop, scullery, linen room, coal room, manager's office, and walk-in refrigerators and freezers.&nbsp;<br><br>Modifications to the exterior of this magnificent building have been minor. In 1936, new entrance doors replaced the windows at the north end of the Firehole Room to provide direct access for tourists arriving street-side from train stations in Gallatin Gateway or Bozeman. These tourists came by way of bus from the Chicago Milwaukee &amp; St. Paul Railway and the Northern Pacific Railway depots. The building sustained minor damage during the 1959 earthquake, mainly to rockwork around the massive fireplace and chimney at the west end of the building.&nbsp;<br><br>Major modifications were made to the interior of the service wing after the closure of dining service in 1960. Part of the wing is still a kitchen, while the remainder of this part of the building now houses public restrooms, government offices, and the Yellowstone Historic Center's main office.&nbsp;<br><br>In 2008, major renovations were made to the Dining Lodge after the Town received a $400,000 grant through the Save America's Treasures program and raised matching funds through a bond passed by the townspeople. The roof of the main part of the building was re-shingled and electrical service was upgraded.

The beautiful Union Pacific Dining Lodge was designed by famed architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood. It was built in 1925 to serve passengers traveling to Yellowstone via the Union Pacific Railroad. Underwood was known for his rustic-style architecture, defined as a style that used native materials in proper scale, avoided rigid, straight lines, gave the feeling of having been crafted by pioneer craftsmen with limited tools, and achieved a connection to natural surroundings and to the past. Underwood's other accomplishments include the famed Ahwahnee Lodge in Yosemite National Park, the Timberline Lodge in Oregon, and the Old Faithful Lodge in Yellowstone. Little has been changed since this building was constructed, leaving a large, rustic space perfect for many types of events including weddings, quinceaneras, family reunions, corporate events, and more. 

The offices of the Yellowstone Historic Center are also housed at this address. 

Union Pacific Dining Lodge

The generator and oil buildings were constructed around 1910. The railroad needed electricity for its West Yellowstone operations and facilities, but the closest available power was a great distance away. So the Union Pacific Railroad built its own generating plant, consisting of the oil and generator buildings. These facilities constituted the first power plant in town, and the town had access to the extra power which was generated. The initial structures matched the rock work of the depot. The generator building was soon expanded to accommodate the larger equipment needed to supply the expanding railroad facilities. A Mercedes Benz diesel generator replaced the original gas generator. 

In the late 1920s, Gilbert Stanley Underwood designed a new decorative cladding for both of these buildings so they would more closely resemble the Dining Lodge from which they were separated by only yards. The exterior walls were faced with bark-covered wood, and the corners were embellished with massive decorative stone piers. The original stone buildings are still there - encased by this more recent façade. The Mercedes Benz generator remains in its original location, inside the generator building. 

Union Pacific Oil and Generator Buildings

<div>Built in 1911, the "Beanery" replaced a 1908 dining hall. The 1908 building was a one-story tarpaper structure, measuring about 24' X 130'. There are no known photos of this structure. The 1911 "Beanery" was a long, low, one-story, yellow building. Meals served here cost 75¢. To accommodate the increasing number of passengers, a wing was added to the building in 1922, measuring 40' X 62'.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>In 1925, the restaurant facilities were moved to the new Dining Lodge, designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood. At that time, the old "Beanery" was converted to employee housing. After an additional dormitory was built for the men in 1927, it was used exclusively for women's housing and became known as the "Women's Dormitory."&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>At the time the Dining Lodge was built, Underwood designed facades for some of the existing railroad facilities, especially those in close proximity to the massive Dining Lodge. These façades created a similar architectural look for all of these buildings, featuring stone pillars at the corners and rustic bark slabs for walls. The Women's Dormitory was one of the facilities that received this treatment.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Underwood also designed the new Men's Dormitory, matching the rustic style of the Dining Lodge. Built in 1927, it served as the Men's Dormitory until the end of passenger service in the 1960s.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Following the halt of passenger service to West Yellowstone, the Women's Dormitory went unused for many years. The structure burned in July 1980, and the place it once occupied is now an open, grassy area.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>In 1971, the Men's Dormitory became the home of the Town's medical clinic and continues to serve this function today.</div>

The railroad operations in West Yellowstone required a great number of workers who needed to be there only in the summer months. In the early 1900s, many of these workers lived in bunk cars located on the sidings near the main lines. Eventually, the need for more permanent housing resulted in the 1925 conversion of the Oregon Short Line "Beanery" into employee housing. This was followed by the construction of a separate men's dormitory in 1927. 

Since 1971, the remaining structure has been used as the Town's medical clinic. 

Union Pacific Dormitories 

The original source of water for Union Pacific railroad operations in West Yellowstone was a spring located near the South Fork of the Madison River. Water was piped from the spring into town, a distance of over two miles. In 1910, the railroad built a steel water tower southwest of the depot. The tank had a 65,000 gallon capacity and was 24' in diameter and 20' high. It stood on a 50' tower. 

Adjacent to the tower was a pump house. Water was pumped from a well which was drilled in 1911, replacing the previously used spring water. A 10" water columnn was used to water the locomotives. There was also an underground waterline running to a horse watering trough near the depot. The exterior of the pump house was altered in the 1920s to match the façade of the Dining Lodge and other railroad facilities designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood.

West Yellowstone Oregon Shortline Terminus Historic District

Union Pacific Pylon

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