So Minnesota: Milwaukee Road Depot
A historic Minneapolis train station found a new life as a hotel.
Nearly 25 years ago, the former Milwaukee Road Depot was turned into the Renaissance Minneapolis Hotel, The Depot.
“We’re very intentional to bring some history to today,” Robert Payne with the Renaissance Minneapolis Hotel, The Depot, said. “You can’t look and not see history.”
The depot remains one of the last long-span, truss-roofed train sheds surviving in the nation. In 1971, the last train left the depot.
The building fell into disrepair and was scheduled for demolition. In 1978, the depot was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2001, the depot was renovated into the hotel, with 23 historic suites in the original building.
“One of our tag lines is people have been coming together for over a century with us,” Payne said. “That’s our story when we talk about us beginning in 1899 as a train station and here today in 2025. Now, we still have people coming together for the great things in life.”