The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway was constructed between 1907 and 1909 as the last transcontinental railroad to cross Montana, and its service to Great Falls during the homestead boom supported the city’s establishment as a major urban center for central Montana. When the Milwaukee Road completed this passenger depot in January of 1915, railway officials hailed it as the finest of its kind between Spokane and Chicago. The terminal is the only building in Great Falls made of “flash” brick, which is burned and unevenly fired. Its 135-foot tower became a Great Falls landmark, and the corporate logos 100 feet up on each side of the tower were the first of this type, designed for use on any railway station in the United States. Composed of small, high-grade tiles pointed with tinted mortar to create a seamless effect even at close range, each sign measures 17 feet by 10 feet. This grand railroad depot compares favorably with the Milwaukee Road’s passenger depots in Miles City, Butte, and Missoula.