The Evanston Depot

The Evanston City Council has approved mounting a George A. Wyman Memorial plaque on the exterior of the historic Evanston Depot.  This newly restored Union Pacific RR depot was build in 1900 and today is used by the City of Evanston as a public venue for special occasions. 

When approached by the Wyman Memorial Project they were enthusiastic to include the Wyman story into the rich history of this frontier community.  May is the Historic Preservation Month for Evanston and they have invited the Wyman Memorial Project to participate in the dedication ceremony for the plaque on May 29th, the anniversary of his overnight stay.  Below is the story of Wyman's "Iron Butt Motel" stay in the Evanston Depot.  The room in which Wyman slept is pictured below. 

On the evening of May 29, 1903 George A. Wyman arrived in the city of Evanston WY.  He had started the day in Ogden UT and rode the Pilgrim Trail and the transcontinental railroad bed some 80 miles to arrive in town around 8:35.  Here is what Wyman said about his visit to Evanston, WY.

"It was 8:35 p.m. when I reached Evanston in Wyoming, just across the State line from Utah, and, although this is a town of something over 2,000 persons, with half a dozen hotels, the place was crowded with visitors. Every cowboy, ranchman, farmer and miner for many miles around had been there to hear the President speak in the afternoon, and at night food was at famine prices and sleeping accommodations simply not to be had. I was not wanted anywhere and I felt the slight in the difference between welcome given to the President and to me keenly. After trying at a couple of hotels and boarding houses I made up my mind that I would have to sit it out. Chairs however, were at a premium, and I stood and watched a poker game at the hotel until midnight, and then strolled over to the railroad station where I found a chair, and in that I bunked, sore as a stone bruise until morning, leaving the town at 6:20 o'clock.", George A. Wyman, Over the Rockies and the Great Divide to the Prairies, The Motorcycle Magazine, August, 1903