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Historic place

Denver and Rio Grande Western Depot

300 S Rio Grande St, Salt Lake City, UT

The Rio Grande built a $750,000 depot to outdo the Union Pacific's, then sold it to Utah for one dollar.

📅 1910–1999🏛️ Train StationRepurposed
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The story

The Denver and Rio Grande Western built this depot in 1910 for $750,000. Chicago architect Henry J. Schlacks designed it, and the railroad meant it to outdo the Union Pacific depot, built the year before for $300,000. Its high-arched center windows originally had green glass to keep the waiting room cool. A pay dispute with Schlacks, whose brother was the railroad's vice president, delayed construction.

It went quiet in the Depression, then revived in World War II, when about twenty trains a day carried soldiers and civilians avoiding gas rationing. Highways and air travel then cut ridership, and the depot narrowly escaped demolition. The State of Utah bought it in 1977 for $1. Amtrak used it from 1986 to 1999, when it moved to the Intermodal Hub and the nearby tracks were removed. It was dedicated in 1981 to house the Utah State Historical Society after restoration.

What's There Now

Offices of the Utah Division of State History and Department of Heritage and Arts, plus the Rio Gallery.

Everything that was here

Did you know?

It was a major point for shipping soldiers in both world wars.
The 2020 Salt Lake City earthquake damaged the building and forced tenants out temporarily.
Greek, Armenian, Syrian and Japanese immigrants settled in the neighborhood around it.

Nearby history

Union Pacific Depot

400 W South Temple · 734 m away
The depot's grand hall carries a 1909 mural of the golden spike, and it ended up as a nightclub and then a hotel.

Zephyr Club

301 S West Temple · 888 m away
Otto Mileti planned a dinner club, but the musicians he hired for the dinner shows drew the crowds.

Dooly Block

109 W 200 South · 897 m away
A six-story Louis Sullivan office building, called his best work in the West, was torn down in 1964.

Calvin L. Rampton Salt Palace Convention Center

100 S West Temple · 919 m away
Opened February 1996 on the demolished arena's site at 100 S West Temple.

Crazy Goat Saloon

165 S West Temple · 1.0 km away
The Dead Goat renamed and reopened as a strip club, which led to a lawsuit with the LDS Church.

Capitol Theatre (Orpheum)

50 W 200 South · 1.0 km away
Opened as the Orpheum Theatre in 1913, it became the Capitol in 1927 and now hosts Ballet West and Utah Opera.

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Sourceshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver_and_Rio_Grande_Western_Depot_(Salt_Lake_City)