Wolf Point, MT; Two wood grain elevators, then there was a fire, now there's one

Burnt (East) Elevator: (Satellite)

Other (West) Elevator: (Satellite)

Depot: (Satellite)

Modern Elevator: (Satellite)

Given the steel bins in the photos below, I think the one on the right is the one that burned.

Street View, Nov 2024

Bakken Oilfield Fail of the Day posted
[Some comments indicate it has not been used for over 10 years. The fire started in the office so some comments speculated that some homeless people lit a fire for warmth, and it got out of control.]

Christopher Jordan Lindsay Sr.: Bums running out of buildings to burn for real in this town, I believe homeless shelter is in the works as we speak.

Andrew Tuttle shared

Six photos contributed in the comments on the above post. Please access the "posted" link to see the names of the contributors.

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Thom Fuhrmann commented on Andrew's share
Summer 2024

Dennis DeBruler: Thom Fuhrmann This is the other wood elevator in Wolf Point. The one that burned is east of this elevator.

Thom Fuhrmann: Dennis DeBruler thanks for the clarification.

Wesley Peters commented on Andrew's share
Photo I took in July 2024. Originally built for the Occident Elevator Co. in 1961. Hogenson Construction Co. was the contractor. 215,000-bushel capacity.

Bakken Oilfield Fail of the Day posted five photos with the comment: "Photos from the Giant Fire in Wolf Point today [Dec 10, 2025]."

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Wesley Peters posted two photos with the comment:

Remembering the Occident Elevator at Wolf Point, Roosevelt County, MT.

Occident Elevator Co. Combination headhouse/annex built in 1961, Hogenson Construction Co. 215,000-bushel capacity.

Destroyed by fire on December 10, 2025.

Photographed on 7/12/2024.

Photos courtesy of Wesley Peters.

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The Great Northern served this town. Note how the river had meandered. I compared this map to a contemporary satellite image, and it appears that a meander has wiped Oldtown off the map.

1916/ Wolf Point Quad @ 62,500

Today's Amtrak depot looks like a farmer's shop building rather than a train depot.

Pete the Traveler, Jun 2023

On the east side of town, there is a modern elevator that is rail served.

Street View, Nov 2024

St. Charles, MN: Steel Grain Bins Collapse

(Satellite)

This collapse happened on Dec 1, 2025. No one was hurt, but the railroad, some roads and some businesses were closed for a while. Of course, they don't know, or won't say, what the cause was.

3:44 video @ 0:05
Grain Bin Collapse in St. Charles, Sananda McCall Reports

@ 0:06

This must have been a still that was taken during the collapses. Note that the bin on the right is compromised.

@ 0:46

Before the collapse, a citizen noticed a problem and notified first responders. So the area had been cleared out before the collapse.

2:26 video @ 0:55
St. Charles grain bin collapseS

The cleanup had progress far enough that the town was opened back up.

@ 1:30

The five bins were part of a feed mill. Those bins look tall and skinny. I wonder if they will determine that they are too tall and skinny.

Street View, Jul 2023

This appears to be the raw footage that the above news reports were using. It either took a while for the second bin to collapse, or it was pulled over to remove the hazard of it falling during cleanup.

Facebook Reel

This video confirms the bin was pulled over as a safety precaution.

Facebook Reel

Mayville, ND: Big Wood Grain Elevator Burns

(Satellite)

Chris Hennebry posted four photos with the comment: "The smoldering rubble of one of the grain elevators that burned down in Mayville ND earlier this week."
[Posted Nov 22, 2025]

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Dennis DeBruler commented on Chris' post
Wow. That was a big wood elevator, https://maps.app.goo.gl/G6MzYE221LFV9Wob9.

This town has a lot of grain elevators and some fertilizer supply companies. From north to south, these are satellite images of the companies I found.

Satellite

This is what is in the background of Photo 1 above.

Satellite

This is the one that burned. I wonder who receives tank cars.

Satellite

Satellite

While verifying that the United Grain Corp. elevator has a fall protector, I noticed that it also has a large wood elevator. The one that burned is in the left background of this view. This elevator has four different storage technologies: wood, slip-form, jump form and steel bins.

Street View, Jul 2025

Is this more of United Grain Corp.? I used a street view to determine that the two round foundations were for bins that were removed since Oct 2021.

Satellite

In the lower-right corner we see that this Kelley Bean elevator gets carload rail service.

Satellite

The railroad was the Great Northern.

1952/67 Grand Forks Quad @ 250,000

A lot of grain elevators explains why BNSF still operates the former-GN route to the north. And BNSF maintains this bridge trestle just for Kelley Bean.

BNSF

Martinton, IL: Collapsed Concrete Silo

(Satellite)

Facebook Reel

Lee Hawthorne, Oct 2025

That silo is a small part of the elevator's storage capacity.

Satellite

Street View, Aug 2023

The elevator has a fall protector, but I don't think that siding has been used for a long time.

Street View, Aug 2023

Facebook Reel

Newman, IL: 1924 Grain Elevator Explosion and Lost B&O Depot

(Satellite)

Matt Davis posted five photos with the comment:

Back in August of 1924, one of the elevators in Newman, IL (along the Indy Division) caught fire. The fire spread from the elevator, to the boxcars spotted alongside, then to the depot. All the buildings were a total loss, and this fire occurred well before Newman had an established fire department. A new depot was built, which lasted into the 70s before being demolished.

My great-grandpa took these photos, which still reside in the family albums.

Chad Quick: Photos of the line from Indianapolis to Decatur (and west) are extremely rare from any time period.

David Cantrell shared with the comment: "Newman, IL elevator fire that also destroyed B&O Indy division depot from Matt Davis collection."

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This map implies that the depot was north of the tracks and between King and Broadway Streets.

1956/56 Newman Quad @ 62,500

But this aerial indicates that the above map is wrong. It was north of the mainline between Hopkins and King streets. 

1940 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

There was a house track north of the depot and that was the siding for the grain elevator.

Digitally Zoomed

Newman was on the route between Indianapolis and Beardstown.

Rumsey

Note in Photo 4 above that there was another grain elevator east of the depot. There must have been another one west of the depot because the town still has two elevator complexes.

Satellite

Make that "had two elevator complexes" because this view from King Street shows that the eastern complex is gone. The remaining one is rail served. ["Route: The DREI line runs between Decatur, Illinois, and Montezuma, Indiana. In Newman, the railroad services a local grain facility." from Google search: "newman il rail service."] That was a rather modern looking elevator to have been removed. Did they disassemble it and reuse it in another town?

Street View, Aug 2023

It gets rail service because the line is now owned by a shortline rather than CSX.

DREI
Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad