Great Northern Depot & Historical Society
Over 200 Princeton first graders paid a visit to the Mille Lacs County Historical Society in October 2024 to learn about Princeton ’ s history .
The Great Northern Railway Depot has stood proudly in the center of Princeton since 1902 . The 215 foot long building was built of beautiful Brickton brick and Kettle River sandstone in the Dutch and Queen Anne style . It served the area ’ s rail transportation needs until the 1970s .
This depot is not the first depot the railroad built on this site . When rail service came to Princeton in 1886 with the building of the “ Milaca Line ” between Elk River and Milaca , Princeton received a typical wooden Great Northern small town depot for its passengers and freight . For 13 years , the tracks outside the little red wooden Princeton depot were busy , carrying all of the railroad traffic from the Twin Cities to the booming town of Duluth , including the posh Pullman
Palace cars with their red velvet seats , and the Railway Post Office cars bringing mail and packages from across the country to the towns along the line .
In 1899 , the Great Northern opened the more direct rail link from the Cities to Duluth through Cambridge , taking all of the Twin Cities to Duluth rail traffic away from Princeton . Princeton business leaders , dismayed by the loss of railroad traffic and commerce , came up with a bold plan . They petitioned James J . Hill to build a much bigger “ first class ” brick and stone depot to replace the original little red frame depot
Depot
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Page 14 Princeton Community Guide • March 2025