California Depot Postcard
of the Week Series
# 1 - Santa Fe Railroad’s La Grande Station - Los Angeles
About the Depot:
·
The depot was formally opened in 1893 and
was a unique combination of Turkish and Moorish architecture.
·
The depot was located close by the west bank
of the Los Angeles River
in downtown Los Angeles on Santa
Fe Avenue between 1st at 2nd
Streets.
·
It was a regular backdrop used by the Hollywood
film industry in both very early silent and 1930’s “talkie” movies.
·
The depot was the starting and ending point
of the famous “Kite Route”
excursion trains, which followed a figure eight route that took people for
a day’s ride through the scenic areas of Los Angeles,
Orange, Riverside,
and San Bernardino counties.
·
The depot’s large Mosque like dome was
damaged in the 1933 Long Beach
earthquake and was subsequently removed
·
It served Santa Fe
passengers for 46 years until the opening of the new Los Angeles Union
Passenger Depot in 1939.
·
It was demolished in 1946 to make way for a
freight depot
Because of its importance to
the growth of Los Angeles and
the highly unique style of period architecture, it would certainly have
been a landmark structure on the National Register of Historic Places had
it survived.
