Minneapolis Great Northern Depot

Minneapolis Great Northern Depot
Minneapolis Great Northern Depot shortly after its opening in 1913
Location	U.S.
Line(s)	Great Northern Railroad
History
Opened	1913
Closed	1978
Services
Former services   Preceding station   Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad   Following station Terminus Minneapolis – St. Paul Line St. Paul toward Chicago Union Station Preceding station   Great Northern Railway (U.S.)   Following station

Coordinates: 44°59′05″N 93°15′59″W / 44.98472°N 93.26639°W / 44.98472; -93.26639

The Minneapolis Great Northern Depot was a passenger railroad station which served Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. It was built in 1913 and demolished in 1978. It was located on Hennepin Avenue next to the Hennepin Avenue Bridge and across the street from the main Minneapolis Post Office.

The station was sometimes called the Minneapolis Union Depot, which actually was the name of the previous station on the opposite side of Hennepin Avenue that had been in use for 30 years. The older Union Depot was razed; today, the site is used for loading docks by the central downtown Minneapolis Post Office. The Stone Arch Bridge was built to serve the original Minneapolis Union Depot, but later provided access to the Great Northern Depot. The Minneapolis BNSF Rail Bridge, an older crossing of the Mississippi River to the north, also served the depot with a cutoff track located on the bridge.

The Minneapolis Great Northern Depot was built to serve the railroad empire of James J. Hill. It was constructed at the height of the City Beautiful movement, at a time when Minneapolis was striving to revive the decaying Bridge Square area. The building was designed by Charles Sumner Frost, who had earlier designed the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Depot Freight House and Train Shed, and then later the Saint Paul Union Depot. (Frost had also supervised the construction of the Navy Pier in Chicago and the Maine State Building at the Columbian Exposition of 1893.)