The Gebo Mine, founded in the Clarks Fork Valley in the late 1890s, brought the Northern Pacific tracks to this area, but the railroad bypassed the coal mine and the nearby town of Gebo because of difficult accessibility. A spur line to the mine was constructed in 1898, and by early 1899 a small wood-frame depot stood north of where the Gebo spur left the main tracks. The railroad named the station Fromberg after Northern Pacific stockholder Conrad Fromberg, and it immediately gave local ranchers a link to distant markets. William Swallow saw the potential for a new townsite on his land near the depot, and the original six-block townsite of Fromberg was platted in a T-town form, with the main street perpendicular to the tracks. Built from standardized plans for fourth class combination stations, the depot originally had a ticket office and waiting room on one end, a freight room on the other, and central living quarters for the agent. Remodeling in 1909 expanded the waiting area into the central apartment, and clapboard siding was applied over the board-and-batten walls. The depot served passengers and freight until 1970, and after being moved seventy-five feet to its present location, it became the only remaining Northern Pacific depot along the historic Clarks Fork branch line and the last railroad building in Fromberg, later serving as the Clarks Fork Valley Museum.