Avery Depot
The Avery Depot in Avery, Idaho was built by the Chicago, Milwaukee and Puget Sound Railway (also known as The Milwaukee Road) in 1909 as part of its Pacific Extension into the Pacific Northwest from Chicago, Illinois. Avery was the west end of overhead catenary, which allowed electric locomotives to operate instead of steam engines.
The depot is a rectangular single story wood-frame building built in the Craftsman style. At one end is the passenger waiting area with a freight room at the other end. The station agent's office and lunch room ("beanery") are located between the two.
When the railroad went bankrupt in the 1980s, the depot was sold to the town of Avery for use as a community center. Today it serves as a community center, museum, post office and library.
The depot was added to the National Register of Historic Places due to its association with the Great Fire of 1910 as an evacuation site.
References
- Anonymous. Avery Depot, North Idaho 1910 Fire Sites Thematic Group. On file at the National Park Service, Washington, DC. n.d.
- Sims, Cort. North Idaho 1910 Fire Sites Thematic Resource National Park Service, Washington, DC. 1984. PDF accessed August 23, 2008.
- ^ Jim Kershner (August 12, 2007). "Memory lane". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved August 9, 2018.