The depot was constructed in 1917 at what is now Adams Street and Ballaine Boulevard to serve the railroad line.

[2] In 1928 the building was moved to its current location on Railway Avenue following a flood of Lowell Creek.

[2][3] Much of the railyard in Seward and the track north along the Turnagain Arm were destroyed in the Good Friday earthquake and the subsequent tsunami that hit the town, and the depot was out of use.

It is currently owned by the Seward Association of the Advancement of Marine Science, dba, Alaska SeaLife Center, who lease it for operation as a cafe.

[2] Hoben Park, also listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is adjacent to the depot.