Northern Pacific Railway's east freight house, filled with flammable materials, was destroyed by fire on March 8, 1910. Despite efforts by Chief Dave Taylor and his volunteer firefighters, insufficient water pressure prevented three hose lines from containing the blaze. Losses to the building and its contents were estimated at $30,000. Twelve adjacent boxcars also caught fire but were moved and extinguished. Firefighters saved the Bingenheimer Mercantile lumber shed on the neighboring property.
The Heart River nearly overflowed during the 1910 spring thaw, prompting Northern Pacific to construct its new freight house and passenger depot on West Main Street. The new freight depot opened at the west end of town in September 1910. Its offices occupied the east end, separated from the freight room by a firewall. An outside passage led to the basement and second-floor offices, which accommodated division headquarters.
Railroad officials boasted that the freight house was the largest and most elaborate building of its kind between the Twin Cities and the West Coast. Its immense size reflected Northern Pacific's expectation that Mandan would soon grow to between 15,000 and 20,000 residents.
A telemarketing firm purchased and renovated the building in 1992, although Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway continued to own the land. The operation lasted only two years. A local developer eventually bought the building, which then remained vacant for several years.
In 2003, BNSF offered the city a reduced land lease if Mandan purchased the former freight house for conversion into a library. Annual rent for the land beneath the freight house and the city-owned depot and Beanery would fall from $6,080 to $500. In 2004, BNSF transferred the land to the city as part of a ground-oil cleanup settlement.
In November 2006, Morton County and Mandan voters approved combining their two libraries into one institution. The merger was completed on May 15, 2007.
