Riverton Railroad Depot

United States historic place


Riverton Railroad Depot
U.S. National Register of Historic Places


43°1′28″N 108°23′24″W / 43.02444°N 108.39000°W / 43.02444; -108.39000
Area	less than one acre
Built	1906–1907
Built by	Chicago & Northwestern Railroad
NRHP reference No.	78002827^[1]
Added to NRHP	May 22, 1978

The Riverton Railroad Depot is a historic railway station located at 1st and Main Streets in Riverton, Wyoming. The depot was built by the Chicago and North Western Railway from 1906 to 1907 along a new line through central Wyoming built by the railway in 1906. The city of Riverton formed only two weeks before the railroad reached it when land in the area opened to new residents under the Homestead Act. The railroad spurred economic development in the region by exporting agricultural products and oil and creating demand for the local coal and lumber industries. When the railroad industry declined after World War II, the Chicago and North Western gradually decreased its service west of Casper, and by 1974 it was prepared to demolish the Riverton station as well. A group of Riverton residents instead bought and restored the depot, which now houses businesses. Some claim that the depot is the last surviving Chicago and North Western station west of Casper,^[2] but, although modified, the Lander station (the end of track for the C&NW's westward expansion), still stands and is currently home to the Lander Chamber of Commerce.

The depot was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 22, 1978.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ Junge, Mark (May 10, 1977). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Riverton Railroad Depot". National Park Service. Retrieved June 3, 2013.