In 1891, a second railroad, the Chicago and West Michigan Railway, began constructing a line with attendant buildings, between Elk Rapids and Petoskey.

The railway purchased this land on the shore of Little Traverse Bay to place their Petoskey Depot.

The Pere Marquette (PM), in turn, was merged into the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) in 1947.

[3][4] In 1970, the Little Traverse Regional Historical Society obtained a lease on the depot and some of the surrounding land.

The long building originally had open platforms at each end, but these were filled in during subsequent renovations.