Endion Station: The Old and the New

What was once a place to take someone from point A to point B...

"It was used as a train depot. It's believed to be one reasons why eastern Duluth developed because at its peak it had six runs a day through Endion Station and people could rely on it and use it as a bus station or a subway and come from East Duluth into Downtown to work and go back," Brad Nelson, Marketing Director for Fitgers said.

Now is a place to relax, have a beer, eat food and soak in the history of what was once a train depot in Duluth.

"We're taking a piece of our cultural heritage from Duluth and we're building on it with a piece of our modern day cultural heritage," Nelson said.

Back in it's day, it was the eastern most station in Duluth, located at what is now 15th East and London Road.

"That used to be a community called Endion there which was later annexed by the city of Duluth and became a part of the city proper. Its main mission was logging. It was the line that ran from here up to Two Harbors. Then they sent it by rail back to Duluth and it all came through this depot," Nelson explained.

The final passenger train in Endion's history pulled away from the station  in 1961and things began to change for the old depot as time went on.

"In 1986, Endion Station had to be moved to make way for the freeway extension through town. Fortunately it's in the National Register of Historic Places," Nelson said.

In 2012, Fitgers owners bought the building for $300,000 and began working on bringing history to Canal Park.

"The exterior of the building is largely untouched, it's in its original condition for the most part. The inside had already been altered quite a bit. We're trying to bring back that feeling of walking into a pub at the turn of the century and just capture that feeling of just sitting there in history," Nelson explained.

With 20 taps inside, craft beer and cider being the focus...

"For us it's just really cool to come in now and pour our locally made craft beers, and our beer is made from the water that's right here where it sits, it feels like it's completing a circle," Nelson said.

...Step inside what is now Endion Station Public House and experience what life would've been like for someone living in the early 1900's.

"Even if someone isn't into the details of the history it's something you feel viscerally when you step into a place that's authentic to the region or place that you're in," Nelson explained.