By Tony Edmondson, Weiser Architectural Preservation Committee Member
In 1884, the Oregon Short Line (subsidiary of Union Pacific RR) made its way west through Idaho and on into Oregon. The little town of Weiser was still 3 years from incorporating as a City and was situated mostly east of the present highway 95 in what we now call “Old Town”. Typically, commerce and therefore townsites would center around depot locations selected by the railroad and Weiser would eventually be no exception, though our story has its unique twists. Some enterprising entrepreneurs speculated the depot would be sited south of town near Crystal, so constructed a few buildings in that location hoping to capitalize on their timing. OSL fooled them and constructed a wood frame depot not far from the brick building you see today. At the time (about 1887), the location was pretty much on the western outskirts of “Old Town”.
While the old wooden depot survived for many years as a freight station, the new depot soon became the southern terminus where the P&IN (Pacific & Idaho Northern) connected to the OSL. Intended to service the mining districts in central Idaho, 84 miles of track were laid north generally paralleling the Weiser River. PI&N constructed grand two-story depots, one of brick in Council and a frame structure a short distance from the OSL depot here in Weiser.
For years, the I&PN’s “Galloping Goose” as it was affectionately known, transported locals to vacations in McCall as well as freight and commerce between the upper country and points south. Just south across the tracks from the OSL depot was a venue called “Mortimer’s Island”. For many summers, it was the place to go for dances, performances, skating, and just a good time in general. Weiser thrived in those years, but by the late 1960’s and early ‘70’s, transportation, commerce, and lifestyles were changing.
Any inconvenience this location created for our citizens didn’t last long, for in 1890 a devastating fire leveled most of the business district in “Old Town”. Rebuilding gravitated west around the depot and by 1907 the OSL was ready to construct grander and more permanent structures at their locations in Weiser, Payette, Ontario, and Caldwell. All designed following the same floor plan, each incorporated unique exterior details.
A visitor exiting the Weiser depot was greeted with an overhead illuminated sign stretching across State Street before them. Within a block could be found two hotels and numerous shops and entertainment.
The P&IN depot and old OSL freight depot were both gone. In fact, UPRR had discontinued passenger service from Weiser and all that remained was a freight clerk. All three of our major hotels had either burned down or were demolished. While our depot had survived, its decorative dormers had been removed in a reroofing and the interior had accumulated multiple coats of paint. Interior remodeling included removal of the old ticket window in favor of a long counter and the addition of a walled office in the corner of one waiting room. Some exterior doors were closed off and the large double entry doors were replaced by a single, small door. A large chunk of the east exterior brick wall of the freight room was opened to load freight from an elevated interior platform which was also added. We weren’t alone as these trends were impacting many towns across the country whose depots were abandoned or demolished altogether. With no passengers to serve, ours like many depots which survived, became little more than shells of their former selves whose purpose had been reduced to sheltering skeleton rail staff handling freight. So it came as no real surprise when one evening in 1985, one of our members got a call from a preservationist in Payette warning us that UPRR had just demolished their depot and were headed to Weiser in the coming days to do the same!
WAPC quickly got into action and began negotiations with UPRR. We contracted a planner to develop the site plan you see today. 
We set about implementing our site plan and UPRR soon donated a historic caboose which was moved to the newly re-created park. We installed the trackside security fence required by our agreement with UPRR and the exterior was stabilized and painted. But many of the structural changes UPRR had made through the years, such as the elevated freight dock on the east end of the building, dormer removal and interior wall alterations and missing doors represented major economic challenges, say nothing of the new roof that was needed. We engaged in many fundraising efforts from commemorative bricks to mugs, Christmas ornaments, and just about anything to raise resources to maintain the building. By 2000, the downtown revitalization we’d dreamed about had begun. The city secured a variety of grants, one specifically targeting historic transportation related structures that resulted in the installation of a new roof as well as street, sidewalks, curbs and gutters. 
In about 2004, the Idaho Heritage Trust (a historic preservation organization created by the Legislature in 1990 in conjunction with our state centennial) relocated their offices to Weiser. Working with them and the city, we were able to secure the last Intermodal Transportation Act grant awarded in Idaho. This permitted us to completely restore the interior and exterior to its original historic appearance in about 2007. Working with ZGA Architects, and following original UPRR architectural plans, we restored the ticket counter/wall, restored floors, had the original front and trackside waiting room doors reconstructed and installed, recreated waiting room features, removed the interior freight deck and reinstalled the brick wall which included fabrication of new window lintels, recreated and installed most missing dormers, replaced 1950’s fluorescent lighting with period correct fixtures, restored our original hot water radiator heating system, and installed central A/C. Here’s a link to their project description. https://www.zga.com/projects/weiser-train-depot. Soon after completion of work, we received statewide recognition for our efforts from Preservation Idaho in the form of an Orchid Award. Here’s a link to that story. https://www.idahoarchitectureproject.org/properties/weiser-union-pacific-railroad-train-depot/
This has permitted us to provide limited public access for private events, be the host site for our community farmers market, as well as variety of other ongoing community functions and regional tours. The building is frequently the backdrop for many family and event photos and has become an area landmark of sorts for visitors and a source of community pride. Currently, the Weiser Garden Club has undertaken the redesign and implementation of a new landscape plan for our depot. This will compliment and augment the ongoing maintenance Sivero’s Landscaping has generously provided to us through the years. What you see today is the result of a long-term vision/strategy and countless hours of volunteer work by many in our community over a 35 year period. Perhaps most importantly, it demonstrates that historic preservation can be an important tool in a communities overall economic vitality. You can be a part of this effort. WAPC membership is only $15. You don’t have to own a historic property to help us preserve our heritage. Here’s a link to a membership form. https://weiserhistory.org/#
