Potlatch’s Washington, Idaho & Montana Railway depot opened in June 1906 as the first commercial building in a new company town. It originally housed the railroad, Potlatch Lumber Company and the town administration. That combination explains the size of the two-story building and the amount of office space above the platform. The lumber company’s mill and the railway belonged to the same local economy. The depot was where the work of running trains met the work of managing the town and its principal employer.
The building’s rooms changed uses as business shifted. During the 1930s, former upstairs offices became apartments. Railroad work continued at platform level under successive operators, among them the Milwaukee Road and Burlington Northern. The WI&M Railway History Preservation Group bought the depot in 2001 with donations from local people and railroad supporters. The ensuing work involved lifting the building to replace the foundation, restoring sash windows and returning the ticket office and men’s waiting room to their earlier appearance.
Look for interpretive material about both the railway and the lumber company in the former ticket office. The preservation group points out original woodwork and much of the original window glass. The upstairs restoration has a detail worth knowing before you look at the doors. Volunteers obtained salvaged mahogany doors with transoms from Portland’s 1910 Railway Exchange Building. The small windows above the doors could open to circulate air between rooms. That feature makes sense in a building that originally held several offices.
The depot has archives as well as displays, and its photographs bring some of the town’s earlier working life into the hallways. There is another useful connection to look for elsewhere in town. The preservation group’s virtual tour places the railway’s 1906 steam locomotive No. 1 and the relocated Princeton depot at Scenic 6 Park. The locomotive and the smaller depot add a line-side perspective to the administrative story told by the big station in the middle of Potlatch.
Visitor information
Researched November 2026.
Sources
More railroad museums in Idaho
- Avery Railroad Museum — Avery: Depot and railroad history collection
- Nampa Train Depot Museum — Nampa: Depot and local history museum
- Northern Pacific Depot Railroad Museum — Wallace: Depot and railroad history museum
- Pacific and Idaho Northern Railway Depot Museum — New Meadows: Depot and community history museum
- All 5 railroad museums and sites in Idaho
Keep exploring
- All heritage sites — museums, stations and landmarks
- Mountain West — the trains you can ride in the region