Between 1906 and 1909, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway—almost universally known as the Milwaukee Road—expanded west to Puget Sound. The line spanned South Dakota and Montana with track arriving in Missoula in 1908 along the south shore of the Clark Fork River. As the final transcontinental line across Montana, the Milwaukee Road provided direct competition for the Northern Pacific and proved beneficial in reducing transportation costs for both freight and passenger traffic. The line followed the model set forth by its competitor, but it also featured innovation by including electrification between Harlowton, Montana, and Avery, Idaho. The Milwaukee Road completed electrification for that portion of its line in 1917, which not only allowed the trains to operate at less expense than coal, but allowed them to perform better in adverse conditions—a key advantage when hauling heavy loads over the line’s many mountain passes.

Completed in 1910 and set along the Clark Fork River adjacent to a bicycle and pedestrian path that once served as the rail bed, Missoula’s Milwaukee Depot and its Spanish Mission Revival-style is one of the city’s most recognizable buildings. Designed by architect J. A. Lindstrand and constructed of brick imported from China, the depot features two observation towers, Romanesque windows, and a tile roof. 

The station was remodeled in 1981 for the Milwaukee Station Restaurant – later the La Chantrelle Restaurant. It was remodeled again in the late 1990s with the glass addition for its current occupant – the Boone and Crockett Club.

Credits and Sources:

Cohen, Stan. Missoula County Images, volume II. Missoula: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1993.

Mathews, Allan James.  “ A Guide to Historic Missoula,” Montana Mainstreets, vol. 6. Helena: Montana Historical Society, 2003.

National Park Service. “ National Register of Historic Places—Nomination Form, Milwaukee Depot.”  1980.

Those Classic Trains, “ Milwaukee Road Electrification.” http://www.northeast.railfan.net/classic/MILWdata5.html, accessed May 8, 2015.

Photographs courtesy of Archives & Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana, Missoula, Montana.