The Livingston Depot Center, a beautifully restored, century-old Northern Pacific railway station, serves today as a museum of railroad history and community cultural center.

This summer, the facility will be finishing a few last details of its roof restoration and restabilization project - but this activity won't affect its historic exhibits and summer events.

The Depot is almost an exhibit by itself.

Designed by Reed and Stem, the original architects for New York City's Grand Central Station, it integrates the classic Northern Pacific yin-yang monad with lively terra cotta detail in an Italianate style overlooking Northern Rockies scenery and the active rail lines that carried visitors to their first introduction to Yellowstone Park. As daily reminders of history, trains pass right by the Depot's entrance.

The Depot served as the NP's central division headquarters and its showcase station between St. Paul and Seattle. Its rich ornamentation on the interior includes finishes of terrazzo and mosaic tile and 25-foot coffered ceilings. Years of local fundraising and restoration work transformed the once soot-covered structure in 1987 into a cultural and historic treasure now on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Depot's ongoing feature exhibit is "Rails Across the Rockies: A Century of People and Places."

"Yellowstone-bound train at the Livingston Depot," taken about 1904, is one of hundreds of railroad photos on display in the museum exhibit.

Photo courtesy of
Warren McGee

Railroads were central to the opening of the American West, and the exhibit introduces visitors to regional and northwest history through objects and photos. Video displays, a small train cabin mock-up and a live telegraph line bring alive the Yellowstone Park travel culture that, unknown to many, began first in the 1880s and has been going strong ever since.

This image from the movie, "A River Runs Through It," which was filmed mostly in and around Livingston and Park County, can be seen at the Depot Center. The center features an exhibit about films made in Montana.

Photo courtesy of
Columbia Pictures

Additional exhibits include "The Livingston Depot in History and Architecture,, and "Film in Montana,, a look at moviemaking under the Big Sky.

Showcased at the Depot this summer is "Yellowstone, Then and Now., The new exhibit features Lee Silliman's contemporary black and white photography of Yellowstone National Park, done on historic camera equipment. The exhibit seeks to connect historic and modern park images with commentary, including classic images originally done by photographers W.H. Jackson, F.J. Haynes, and painter Thomas Moran.

Yellowstone, beyond being a resplendent natural reserve, has been a focal point for evolving national values and practices over the past century and a quarter, and the exhibit explores the ongoing transition of America's cultural attitudes towards nature.

Additional historic objects will complement this exhibit to reflect changes over the years in the visitor experience, including tourist memorabilia and objects from Park hotels and camps, on loan courtesy of Yellowstone National Park and private collectors.

Related "Third Thursdays at the Depot, programs will be given at the museum through the summer, beginning with exhibit artist Lee Silliman, speaking Thursday, June 21, 7 p.m., at the Depot Museum.

The Depot's 20th annual Festival of the Arts takes place the weekend preceding July 4. Approximately 100 artists and craftspeople are expected to present their handiwork in the directly-adjacent Depot Rotary Park. The wares will range from fused glass to oils, photography, fine jewelry, woodwork, furniture, fiber works, ceramics, and more. Also featured at the Festival of the Arts are non-profit sponsored food kiosks and the highly popular Depot Foundation pie booth. This year the dates and hours of the event are: Saturday, June 30, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, July 1, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Monday, July 2, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Depot Museum's 2007 summer schedule is Saturday, May 26 through Saturday, Sept. 8. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Admission is $3 for adults, and $2 for children and seniors over 62. The museum complex also offers a gift shop featuring railroad and historical memorabilia. For more information call 222-2300 or visit www.livingstondepot.org.

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The Yellowstone Gateway Museum of Park County houses an array of nationally and locally significant artifacts in the former Northside School at 118 W. Chinook St. The 1906 school is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

This season's new display features 32 pictures and history of the Northern Pacific Railroad, including photographs from F.J. Haynes and Warren McGee.

Other collections reflect:

Yellowstone National Park

The late 1860s through 1940s are represented by pre-1900 chromolithographs by W.H. Jackson, pre-1916 transportation carriages, items from homesteader Frank Bottler, Yellowstone Trail items from 1912-1930 and more.

Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery

See Capt. William Clark's precise route through the area on July 15, 1806, with short biographies of the 12 others with him, including Sacajawea, her son Jean Baptiste (Pomp), Clark's slave, York, as well as Charbonneau, Pryor and Shields.

Archeology

The museum features three nationally recognized sites: The Anzick site, known for being the largest cache of Clovis-age artifacts and oldest human burial in North America; the Myers-Hindman site, which established human habitation over thousands of years in a mountain environment; and the Emigrant site, the first bison jump excavated in North America, which was done by Barnum Brown.

Wild West

Calamity Jane highlights the cast of local characters, along with items related to Buffalo Bill Cody, the Plummer Gang, "Yankee" Jim, Texas Rangers and the Goodnight-Loving Cattle Trail.

Geology

Displayed items cover the 3.5 billion-year-old geology of the area, fossils, minerals and early mining.

Northern Pacific Railroad

The collection includes an 1889 caboose, pre-1900 artifacts, F.J. Haynes and Warren McGee steam engine photos from the 1880s through 1950s, a 1940s ticket station and more.

Pioneer Living

View century-old to early 1920s household items, blacksmith and wheelwright tools, firefighting carts, a 1935 LeFranc fire engine and a log schoolhouse.

Military

Items cover the first Crow Agency of Ft. Parker 1869-1874, Battle of Little Bighorn, the Civil War, Spanish American War, and World Wars I and II.

Hours at the museum are: May 19 to Sept. 8 - 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily; and Sept. 11 to Sept. 30 - 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. In September, the museum is closed Sundays and Mondays. For an off-season appointment or tour, call (406) 222-4184.

Admission is $4 for adults, $3.50 for seniors 65 and over, and $2 for children ages 6-12. Children under 5 are free. AAA and group discounts are offered.
On the Net: livingstonmuseums.org

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Wandering around the Fly Fishing Discovery Center at 215 E. Lewis St., visitors can marvel at a pallid sturgeon, thousands of flies, and murals depicting a slice of underwater life.

The FFDC features several rooms with different themes.

It's open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

"It's a point of interest for everyone, not just fly-fishers," center director Bob Wiltshire said. "People who don't fly-fish come in here and are absolutely fascinated."

In one corner of the old Lincoln School building, visitors will find the Tackle Room.

Displays in the Tackle Room include the evolution of the rod from basically a pool stick to the space-age technology used in rods today, Wiltshire said.

The Warm Water Fish Room features a 27-foot-long by 12-foot-high mural by former local artist Michael Simon. It depicts life in a pond with three aquariums built into the wall to show what life is like below the surface.

Also in this room, visitors will find a pallid sturgeon - a fish that has not changed since the days of the dinosaur. The fish, which is native to parts of the Missouri and lower Yellowstone rivers, does not have any bones.

Another room in the center, called the Fly Room, has as many as 10,000 fishing flies on display, including flies from the mid-1800s, flies from Japan used for smelt, and a fly with a size 32 hook - which requires some visitors to use the center's magnifying glasses to see.

An offshoot of the Fly Room includes a display about fly-tying.

The Cold Water Fish Room features an 18 by 6-foot mural that is a slice of a trout stream. Visitors will be hard-pressed to notice all the details in the mural.

Some of the smaller, hard-to-find items in it include the swarm of caddis flies and the web-spinning caddis - which every day spins something similar to a spider web in the river to catch food and debris.

The newest exhibit at the center is dedicated to the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The exhibit looks at the expedition's fish discoveries and the role fish played in the journey.

Artwork lines the walls of the center, which also includes a gift shop and a library people can use for reading or research.

Everything on display is owned by the Federation of Fly Fishers, an organization formed more than 30 years ago.

The center also organizes several programs during the summer, including free fly-casting lessons.

People of all skill levels are welcome to attend the lessons, which run Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning at 5 p.m., June 1 to Labor Day. Equipment is provided.

Admission to the center is $3 for adults, $2 for senior citizens and $1 for children ages 6 to 13.

The 42nd annual Fly Fishing Show and Conclave, sponsored by the FFF, will be held in Livingston Aug. 2-4.

The event attracts many of the biggest names in the sport of fly-fishing to the area. During the three-day event, a number of different classes, from fly-tying to fly-casting, will take place.

For more information about the Fly Fishing Discovery Center or the conclave, call 222-9369.

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