Livingston Depot was designed by the Minnesota firm of Reed and Stem, the first architects for New York City's Grand Central Terminal in an Italianate style with red and yellow brick and ornate terra cotta detailing from lions' heads to floral figures and the Northern Pacific's trademark yin-yang emblem, and its interior includes inlaid terrazzo and tiling including the same NP emblem.

Its shorter-lived precursors were an 1882 wooden facility, which burned down, and an 1888 brick structure, which grew to be inadequate for the rapidly increasing and somewhat affluent passenger traffic the NP was bringing to visit Yellowstone.

Initially it was a busy connection center, sited adjacent to the large Livingston shops complex and served as an NP division headquarters, being roughly equidistant between the termini of St. Paul, Minnesota, and Seattle, Washington.

Local citizens lobbied for its donation to the city and adoption by the non-profit Livingston Depot Foundation which they created for its extensive restoration and subsequent operation.

During the off-season the facility hosts wedding receptions, holiday parties, blues and other concerts, cards nights, historic talks, economic development forums, and similar events.