History of the Line
First Laid in 1879

The current depot structure is what remains of what was once a grand depot facility, originally built in 1902 by the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway Company and once almost twice as long.  The two story northern half of the building was razed in the summer of 1963, nearly two years after the last passenger train departed.  The portion of the building that remains once housed "The Beanery", which was a 24 hour restaurant that served passengers and workers alike.

The first railroad was built here in 1879 as the North Wisconsin Railway completed track from Cumberland to a place just north of Spooner called Chandler.

In 1880, The North Wisconsin Railway became the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway, or the "Omaha" and the rails moved further north as the railroad was finished from Chandler to Cable.

In 1881, the Omaha continued to build toward Bayfield and in the other direction from Trego Jct. toward Superior.  Meanwhile, the Chippewa Falls and Northern built from Chippewa Falls to Bloomer.

In 1882, the Omaha reached Itasca near Superior, while the Eau Claire & Chippewa Railway built from Bloomer to Bear Creek, now Haugen.  The first through train from St. Paul to Superior via Spooner was operated in November.

The big railroad building boom came to an end in 1883 as the Eau Claire and Chippewa completed its line joining the Omaha at Chicago Junction about three miles south of Chandler.  Omaha crews reached Ashland and later that same year Bayfield on Lake Superior.  Washburn County was created and the Omaha moved its railroad operations to the newly platted town of Spooner.

The building boom was over but the operating boom was yet to begin.  In the heyday of operations the Spooner Depot played host to 22 passenger trains a day.

Spooner's railroad heritage is not only famous for the building of the railroad, but also for those who visited here aboard the train.  In 1924, David Windsor, Prince of Wales, and future King Edward the VII of England made a stop in Spooner enroute on a train from Duluth to Chicago.  In 1948, President Harry Truman's train stopped in Spooner.

As with railroads around the country, the railroad in Spooner began to decline in the early 1960's.  With passenger trains a distant memory, the railroad began to abandon track.  The first to go was the branch to Park Falls in 1965.  Followed by the tracks from Hayward to Ashland in 1979.  In 1982, with the speed down to about 10 mile per hour, the track between Spooner and Hudson was discontinued.  The mainline from Superior to Eau Claire lasted another decade until it was sold to the Wisconsin Central in 1992.  The last train left the Spooner yard on July 9, 1992 ending over a century of railroad history.

But, fortunately, the final chapter has not yet been written about the relationship between Spooner and the railroad, as the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad was formed in the spring of 1997 to resume passenger service and hopefully someday freight operations on the line north of Spooner.

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