Location: 400 2nd Street (Razed)
Sometimes not even National Register status has the power to save buildings from bulldozers and wrecking balls. The Farmington Milwaukee Road Depot is a case in point. Built in 1894, the depot was the “only major railroad structure remaining” in a Dakota County town when it was put on the National Register in 1979.
The depot was a symbol of the railroad heritage of Farmington. The town grew up at the intersection of two railroad lines-the Minnesota Central and the Hastings and Dakota (constructed in the 1860s) both of which were later absorbed by the Milwaukee Road. From 1910 to 1921, the town possessed a large freight yard.
In 1984, after effort-filled years by some Farmington residents to save it, the depot fell victim to the Milwaukee Railroad’s bankruptcy proceedings and the bulldozer. The Milwaukee Road said it could not afford to maintain buildings of civic interest as well as jobs and service.