Est. 1910 · National Register of Historic Places · French Renaissance Architecture · World War II Transportation Hub · Utah State Historical Society
The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad completed its Salt Lake City depot in 1910 at a cost of $750,000 — more than twice the $300,000 spent on the Union Pacific Depot completed a year earlier. The railroad intended the statement to be legible. Chicago architect Henry Schlack, known primarily for church design, produced a French Renaissance and Beaux-Arts structure with an exterior of limestone at the base, brick above, and terra-cotta ornamentation. Three 28-by-30-foot windows on each side of the main hall anchor the building's most dramatic interior feature.
The depot was built around a load-bearing concrete and iron structure. Historical photographs show the great hall functioning as a hub for regional rail traffic connecting Salt Lake City to Denver and points west.
During World War II, the depot became one of Salt Lake City's most emotionally charged civic spaces. Processing 15 to 20 trains daily, the building was a site of mass departure and return — the place where Utah soldiers left for the Pacific and European theaters and where some returned. Workers called it the 'Sweethearts Depot.'
Amtrak used the building as its Salt Lake City station from 1986 until 1999, when the tracks near the depot were permanently removed. The building was subsequently transferred to the State of Utah; it now houses the Utah Division of State History and the Rio Gallery, a free public exhibition space. In 2026, the University of Utah announced it would assume ownership of the depot for future adaptive reuse.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver_and_Rio_Grande_Western_Depot_(Salt_Lake_City)
- https://www.deseret.com/2010/4/19/20109682/all-aboard-rio-grande-depot-turns-100-this-year/
- https://www.ksl.com/article/46190918/ghost-investigation-does-the-purple-lady-haunt-the-rio-grande-or-do-other-restless-souls
ApparitionsLights turning on and offDoors slammingObjects displacedPhantom sounds
The Purple Lady legend has persisted at the Rio Grande Depot since at least the mid-20th century. The core account varies slightly in its details but centers on a woman who argued with her fiancé on the train platform, during which her engagement ring ended up on the tracks. She reached down to retrieve it and was struck by a passing train. The platform and surrounding area are where her apparition — always described in a purple dress — is most frequently reported.
Café and building staff across different eras have given consistent accounts of seeing the figure, typically at the south end of the building or at the end of the former platform. A second reported entity — described as a male figure believed to be a former station master — occupies the lobby area.
The day-to-day phenomena reported by staff are less dramatic than the apparition accounts: lights cycling on and off without cause, doors slamming in empty sections of the building, paintings found crooked after being straightened, and water taps running at full force and resisting manual shutdown. Singing has been reported from the women's restroom when unoccupied.
A paranormal investigation by a group using detection devices reported registering seven entities in the women's restroom and documented audio responses in the basement. KSL conducted a documented investigation that was broadcast as part of a local 'Haunted City' series, with investigators concluding that activity in the building was consistent with a location that had processed an unusual density of emotionally intense human experience.
Notable Entities
The Purple Lady (unnamed, alleged)
