DescriptionOriginating as a depot on the Milwaukee Road, this town is named for Geraldine Rockefeller, wife of one of the railroad’s owners. Among the town’s founders were William and Abbie Welch, the first merchants, and Jack Phelan and Ed Fuller, all of whom had journeyed to the area by Model T Ford from Lewistown to lay out the townsite in 1913. Workers put the finishing touches on the depot, the only custom-built one on the central branch, and townsfolk christened the building in 1914 with a gala New Year’s Eve dance. Its hardwood maple floors were pronounced “splendid.” The “rustic bungalow of the California pattern” featured 2 waiting rooms, a ticket room, a freight room with scales embedded in the floor, nickel-trimmed hot-blast stoves, and a ventilating system that changed the air every 5 minutes. Geraldine was a busy stopover, serving 2 daily passenger trains and freight crews. Passenger service ended in 1955 and, after the Milwaukee Road’s demise in 1980, salvage companies removed the rails from the Great Falls–Geraldine section. The nonprofit Geraldine Historical Committee acquired the depot in 1995; it is listed in the National Register. Personal NamesRockefeller, GeraldineWelch, WilliamWelch, AbbiePhelan, JackFuller, EdContributing InstitutionMontana Historical Society Library and ArchivesGeolocation[1] Elevation3133 ftCountyChouteau County
