Whitefish served as a division point for the Great Northern Railway from its founding in 1904 until 1955, and in 1925 one railroader called it “the most distinctively railroad town on the whole Great Northern system.” The second floor of the 1928 Tudor style building designed by railroad architect Thomas McMahon housed the railway’s division offices, while the first floor served as a hub for passenger and freight transportation with the yard office, freight and baggage rooms, warm room, ticket office, general waiting room, telegraph office, men’s smoking room, and ladies’ rest room. Because competition from automobiles and trucks had already begun to decrease railroad traffic, few depots were built in the 1920s, making Tudor style depots rare. This depot’s Tudor features include a high pointed roof, stucco and decorative half timbering above clapboard, and multiple groups of tall, narrow windows, while its decoratively carved brackets, rafter tails, and second-floor balconies echo detailing at Glacier National Park chalets and visually connect Whitefish to Glacier, a tourist destination widely promoted by the railroad. In the 1980s, Whitefish preservationists worked to preserve the building, which still serves as a passenger and freight depot, and its stylish façades facing both the town and the tracks continue to welcome travelers and reflect the town’s railroad history.