Hinckley’s Northern Pacific depot opened in November 1894, just two months after the fire leveled the town. During this era, most depots were built by standard designs so that they could be quickly constructed across a vast system. John R. Stilgoe writes in Metropolitan Corridor: Railroads and the American Scene “The standardization of the depot design saved the firm money not only by dramatically reducing design and building costs, but also by heightening the efficiency of its agents, who worked in carefully planned spaces intended to reduce waste motion” (Stilgoe, John R. Metropolitan Corridor: Railroads and the American Scene. New Haven, CT.: Yale UP, 1983. 202). The Northern Pacific built a standard first class depot in Hinckley, indicating an expectation of significant levels of traffic in the future. The structure originally housed a lunchroom and an agent’s apartment on the second floor and is now home to the Hinckley Fire Museum.
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