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(NewsDakota.com) After years of hard work with the efforts of volunteers in Wimbledon, Jamestown, Valley City and the surrounding area, the Midland Continental Railroad Depot Transportation Museum is open for tourists.
The depot was home to Peggy Lee and her father from 1934 to 1937. The original dream was to build a rail line that ran from Winnipeg to Texas moving people and goods north and south. The line began in 1920 in North Dakota the same year Peggy Lee was born and ended in North Dakota.
On the first floor the depot is full of Midland Continental Railroad history with several large displays and written billboards.
Hundreds of people attended the dedication ceremony at the depot, the one-time home of world famous jazz singer and songwriter Peggy Lee.
A number of Peggy Lee items are now on display in the depot, the former living quarters of Peggy Lee and her father.
Granddaughter Holly Foster Wells said, “Even though she ended up in Los Angeles, my grandmother always considered North Dakota her home and she was proud of those roots. This is a way for fans to connect with her legacy, and we know she’d be delighted to be remembered in this way.”
Born in Jamestown in 1920 as Norma Delores Egstrom, Peggy Lee began her singing career at KOVC Radio in Valley City in the late 1930’s after owner Bob Ingstad Sr. gave her a spot to sing on the radio.
During the dedication several songs were sung and one of those brought great applause from the audience as the singer sang the lyrics in a song that said “Waiting For The Train To Come In” a Canadian Pacific Railroad train drove past and blew its whistle in the middle of the song. Everyone was surprised by the timing of the train as it went past Wimbledon at that point in the ceremony.
Peggy Lee’s career spanned six decades and garnered critical acclaim and countless awards, including a Grammy for the 1969 hit, “Is That All There Is.” Lee also received a Grammy lifetime achievement award and in 1999 was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
