For a town to grow and survive out here on the Northern Plains in the early 20th century, one building would have been absolutely necessary. Can you guess what it is? Here’s a hint: people would have come here for many reasons - shipping and delivery, travel, business, sending and receiving mail, or even entertainment! Have you figured it out? That’s right, it’s a train station, like the one you see in front of you!

Depots along the railway were usually built about fifteen miles or so apart to accommodate early settlers. Construction on Garrison’s Soo Line Depot building began in 1905, right after the first freight train arrived carrying the materials that they would need to build it! In fact, the town of Garrison used to be located further to the south, closer to the Missouri River, but when those early citizens heard that the railway and depot were to be built here, they picked up and moved what buildings they had to be nearby! Train stations must have been pretty important and exciting!

The Soo Line Depot here in Garrison was said to be the finest and largest depot on the line north of Bismarck by one regional newspaper, with a freight room, waiting room, and office downstairs, and living quarters for the depot agents upstairs. By the next year, business was so good that the addition was built on to the west side of the building as a baggage room. Large groups of people would gather to meet the trains as they rolled in, either to conduct business, pick up shipments, meet folks arriving, or just to satisfy their curiosity!

By 1970, however, due to rapidly changing technology and shipping trends, the depot service in Garrison was discontinued, and it seemed that the Soo Line Depot building may fall into disrepair. That’s where the Heritage Park Foundation comes in! Actually, it was because of the depot that the foundation and the park were even started! Rather than let it be torn down, a group of like-minded individuals from the community worked together to acquire this lot of land and the building and have it moved here to be renovated and preserved. Although it took nearly two thousand dollars to relocate the depot to what would become Heritage Park, the foundation was able to purchase it for only one dollar!

Members of the Heritage Park Foundation and the community worked together to restore the depot, which was no easy task. The roofing was replaced, the exterior was scraped and painted, windows were replaced and protected, and that’s just the outside! Choosing to base the interior off of the depot’s hey-day, roughly 1910 to the 1940s, items were gathered or received through donations and displayed throughout the depot, becoming the museum and focal point for the park. The Roundtable Homemakers Club of Garrison took on the difficult task of restoring the depot agent’s living quarters upstairs, including cleaning, wallpapering, and arranging the displays. The downstairs rooms also need to be painted. The Soo Line Depot was only the beginning for Heritage Park; keep exploring to see what other parts of Garrison’s past have been preserved here.