The Great Northern was built in stages, slowly creating profitable lines, before extending the road further into undeveloped Western territories.

In a series of the earliest public relations campaigns, contests were held to promote interest in the railroad and the ranchlands along its route.

J.J. Hill convinced New York banker John S. Kennedy, Norman Kittson (a wealthy fur trader friend), Donald Smith (a Hudson's Bay Company executive), George Stephen (Smith's cousin and president of the Bank of Montreal), and others to invest $5.5 million in purchasing the railroad.

[2] On March 13, 1878, the road's creditors formally signed an agreement transferring their bonds and control of the railroad to J.J. Hill's investment group.

On February 1, 1890, he consolidated his ownership of the StPM&M, Montana Central Railway, and other rail lines to the Great Northern.

In 1892, a new shop site was established five miles west of Spokane, Washington in Hillyard (named after James Hill) to serve the western half of the GN system.

The company town and extensive railroad facility of Hillyard, Washington was named after James J. Hill and briefly manufactured the R Class 2-8-8-2 around 1927 which was the largest steam locomotive in the world at the time.

The Great Northern electrified Steven's Pass and briefly owned the electric Spokane and Inland Empire Railway.

The deadliest avalanche in US history swept two Great Northern trains off the tracks at Wellington, Washington by the Cascade Tunnel killing 96 people.

Here, the mainline forms the southern border of Glacier National Park, which the GN promoted heavily as a tourist attraction.

Many of the structures have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places due to unique construction, location, and the beauty of the surrounding regions.

With a terminus at Superior, Wisconsin, the Great Northern was able to provide transportation from the Pacific to the Atlantic by taking advantage of the shorter distance to Duluth from the ocean, as compared to Chicago.Between 1891 and 1917 GNR built a number of railway branch lines across the border with Canada.

In 1903 GNR constructed a line running from Cloverdale to Port Guichon (Present day Ladner, BC).

Service from Blaine to New Westminster was redirected in 1909 over a new line past White Rock, across Mud Bay, through Annieville and on to Brownsville.

The Great Northern energetically promoted settlement along its lines in North Dakota and Montana, especially by Germans and Scandinavians from Europe.

The rapidly increasing settlement in North Dakota's Red River Valley along the Minnesota border between 1871 and 1890 was a major example of large-scale "bonanza" farming.

[11][12][13] During World War II, the Army moved its Military Railway Service (MRS) headquarters to Fort Snelling, Minnesota.

[21] The Great Northern had numerous paint scheme variations and color changes over the years, but Rocky the goat was consistently featured.

Appearances in popular culture: The Great Northern is mentioned in the song "Jack Straw," written by Bob Weir and Robert Hunter and originally performed by The Grateful Dead.