Northern Pacific Depot (Hinckley, Minnesota)


The Northern Pacific Depot in Hinckley, Minnesota, United States, is a wood-framed depot built in 1895, the year after the previous depot was destroyed in the Great Hinckley Fire on September 1, 1894. The depot was built from the plans of the previous depot. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The building was originally built by the St. Paul and Duluth Railroad, which was acquired by the Northern Pacific Railway in 1900. The Northern Pacific operated the depot until the mid-1960s. The building had separate men's and women's waiting rooms, a freight room, a restaurant known as the "Beanery", and a stationmaster's living quarters on the second floor.
The depot is now known as the Hinckley Fire Museum. The museum interprets the history of the fire that destroyed six towns and burned over. It also explains how the town was rebuilt and how the area shifted to agricultural use after the lumbering era ended.