Green River station is a former train station in Green River, Wyoming. It was served by the Union Pacific Railroad from its construction to 1971, and by Amtrak from 1971 to 1983 and 1991–1997. The ''

Pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and dev ...

'' was the last train to serve Green River. The depot is a contributing property to the Green River Downtown Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.

History

The Union Pacific Railroad first reached Green River from the east on October 1, 1868, while building the

first transcontinental railroad North America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the " Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail netwo ...

. The company later opened a depot in the town. However, the old depot was starting to show its age. Green River residents said that "the town is dying" and that a new depot had to be built. There were fears that Green River would be abandoned in favor of Granger, a town 30 miles to the west and a junction on the Overland Route. But construction of the new depot had begun. In 1910 the current depot was completed, with offices being moved into it from Ogden. Green River grew into a major town on the line and became a division point for the railroad. Sometime in the 1940s the crow's nest lookout on the trackside roof was added. Amtrak took over intercity service on May 1, 1971, with its ''

City of San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

'' running until June 1972, when it was replaced by the '' San Francisco Zephyr''. The '' California Zephyr'' replaced the ''San Francisco Zephyr'' on July 16, 1983, but its more-southern route temporarily ended passenger rail service to Green River. Amtrak service was restored with the rerouting of the ''

'' via Green River on June 17, 1991, but ended for a second time on May 10, 1997 with the discontinuation of the ''Pioneer''. The depot was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 8, 2009, as a contributing property to the Green River Downtown Historic District. GreenRiverWY DowntownHD RRDepot

Currently, the depot is undergoing restoration by the city itself and has received around $200,000 from the

EPA The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

to clean up contaminants in the depot. When completed, restoration of the roof will begin.

References

External links

* {{Amtrak Wyoming stations Neoclassical architecture in Wyoming Former Union Pacific Railroad stations Former Amtrak stations in Wyoming Green River, Wyoming Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming Railway stations closed in 1997 Railway stations in the United States opened in 1991 Railway stations in the United States closed in 1983