The last remaining terminus depot

The California Southern Railroad’s depot in National City, California is the last transcontinental terminus depot in the United States at its original location and in its original condition. Please note that the Historic American Buildings Survey on which this article, plans and photos are based, was completed before the depot was renovated to its original state in 1998.¹ The depot is currently operated as a museum by the San Diego Electric Railway Association.²

The Italiante-style depot was built in 1882, the fruition of more than 10 years work to secure a transcontinental railroad link for the San Diego Bay region. National City was founded on a former Spanish land grant of more than 23,000 acres along San Diego Bay just south of the city of San Diego. Frank A. Kimball purchased the land, which included six miles of waterfront on the bay, for $30,000 in 1868 and named it The National Ranch. Kimball and his brothers set about laying out National City, but growth was slow. Kimball knew that the future of the city depended on getting a railroad link. But he faced the opposition of the Southern Pacific railroad, whose directors vowed they would never allow a competing railroad in California.

Kimball began communications with railroad officials as early as 1869. In the 1870s it was announced that the Texas and Pacific Railroad would build a link to National City, but the aforementioned Southern Pacific and a national financial depression brought the plan to a halt just after grading had begun. Kimball then decided his best chance would be the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, which was determined to run rails all the way to the Pacific Ocean, but had not committed to a specific location for their West Coast terminus. Kimball set about convincing them that National City was the place to build. By 1879 he was corresponding with the president of the Santa Fe, and after a year of negotiations, the railroad agreed to the project.

Affiliate links:
Model Railroad Depot Kits on eBay
Model Railroad Depot Kits on Amazon

One of the provisions of the project was that it be completed by a separate railroad company. So, in October, 1880, the California Southern Railroad was chartered to build the new route. “Separate” in this instance means the California Southern was a legally separate corporation from the Santa Fe, but the California Southern Railroad’s board of directors was exactly the same as that of the Santa Fe, with the exception of Kimball, who was added to the California Southern’s board.³ This corporate structure protected the Santa Fe from the potential losses inherent in the capital-intensive process of building a new railroad, but the owners still stood to profit if the line was successful. It was a method the Santa Fe used frequently in its expansion, as detailed in History of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway by Keith L. Bryant, Jr.⁴

The agreement with the Santa Fe called for the Kimball brothers to provide the Santa Fe with $25,410 in cash, 17,356 acres of land, and 486 lots in National City. This included three miles of bayfront property. The bayfront land was especially important to the Santa Fe, as they wanted to create the closest port on the West Coast to service from the east as well as a shipping point to the orient, to best compete with the Southern Pacific Railroad.⁵

Due to the monopoly the Southern Pacific had on the transportation of goods into the State of California, the Santa Fe shipped via sea the materials needed to build the California Southern Railroad, including locomotives. They planned to build north and east to meet up with Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, which the Santa Fe controlled, and then build across Arizona. The construction of the California Southern began with a large wharf at the National City terminal, and the grading of roadbed began in December 1880. In June of 1881 the California Southern laid the first rail at National City. The first locomotive arrived at the wharf July 13, 1881. That month the San Diego Union reported the California Southern Railroad had spent approximately $2.5 million on construction, the bulk of which was in the San Diego Bay region.

But the Southern Pacific wasn’t going to take this challenge on their monopoly lying down. The SP refused to allow the California Southern to cross its tracks in Colton, California. The California Southern constructed a crossing frog at the terminal grounds, but the SP obtained a court order to stop the installation of the frog, and sent a deputy to National City to confiscate it. When the deputy retired to his hotel room, California Southern workers loaded the frog onto a flatbed truck and transported it to Colton. The Southern Pacific then kept three locomotives continuously moving over the crossing to prevent its use. The Santa Fe finally prevailed in court and the California Southern completed the first link of the Santa Fe Route to the Pacific. Service from National City to Colton began in August 1882, just two months before the National City depot was finished.

The Southern Pacific continued to do everything in its power to stop the California Southern’s effort to reach the Colorado river, but finally the Santa Fe prevailed and the first transcontinental train left the National City depot on November 14, 1885. The first train from the east arrived November 16.

In 1998 the city of National City restored the depot to its original configuration. It is located at 922 W. 23rd Street, National City, CA 91950 . The San Diego Electric Railway Association is responsible for maintaining the property and the building. Donations to help maintain the depot are accepted. Visit https://www.sdera.org/donate.php for more information.⁶

ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION

General:

Architectural Character:

The building was designed in the Italianate style of architecture exhibiting a low-pitched flat topped hip roof with widely overhanging eaves and decorative brackets; tall, narrow windows; double doors and a molded string course, all typical of the style.

Condition of Fabric:

There are very few changes to the Station externally for the recommended period of significance 1882-1891. The greatest impact to the Station’s original fabric for the 1882-1891 period was the addition of the two small windows on the east side (c. 1930’s}, the wood platform and floors were removed and replaced with concrete (date unknown), and two door openings and one window opening were modified (1970’s).

Description of Exterior:

Overall Dimensions: 64′-3″ X 36′-3″
Foundations:

Northern portion of the building has a concrete slab on grade foundation. The southern portion of the building has a solid concrete foundation 2′-8″ above grade.

Walls:

The exterior of the building is horizontal simple drop wood siding (except 1990’s addition of vertical siding to the first floor on the east side of the building).
A molded string course runs around the building’s exterior between floor levels.

Structural System, Framing:

This two story wood framed building has 2″ x 4″ (assumed actual) stud walls at 16″ on-center supporting the second floor and roof.
Second floor framing is 2″ x 12″ (assumed actual) joists at 16″ on center running north/south.
Second floor ceiling is 2″ x 6″ (2″x 5.875″ actual) joists at 32″ on center, running east/west with 1″ x 3″ (actual) boards at 16″ on center running north/south below the ceiling joists supporting a lath and plaster ceiling.
The roof framing is 2″ x 8″ (2″ x 7.875 actual) rafters at 32″ on center running east/west with 1″ x 6″ skip sheathing at 10″ on center above the rafters supporting the roof.

Chimneys:

This building has two brick chimneys. They are centrally located (east/west) in the building, one in the northern half of the building, the other in the southern half. The chimneys are distinctive with their corbel table tops and tall chimney stack. Each chimney also has two non-historic sheet metal spark arrestors.

Openings:

Doorways and Doors:
All historic doorways on this building have shaped pediments with central rosettes. The jamb casing (1″ x 5.5” actual) has a .75″ chamfer on both outside corners. The doorway was a two-lite transom now replaced with plywood. The doors are four panel wood with miscellaneous non-historic hardware.

Windows:

All historic windows on this building are generally tall, narrow double hung and eight-paned. The windows have shaped pediments with central rosettes. The jamb casing (1″ x 4.5” or 5.5” actual) has .75″ chamfer on both outside corners.

Roof:

Shape, Covering:
The roof is a low-pitched (approximately 7:12) flat topped hip roof. Modern roofing (pre-1956) of a rigid diamond shaped mineral fiber shingle covers the original wood roof shingles.

Cornice, Eaves:
Widely overhanging wood eaves appear to be supported by paired decorative wood brackets surrounding the building. The eave contain an integral sheet metal gutter system that leads to round, exposed sheet metal downspouts at the building corners.

Affiliate links:
Model Railroad Depot Kits on eBay
Model Railroad Depot Kits on Amazon

1. Mellon, Delores, Historic American Buildings Survey CA-2654 Written Historical and Descriptive Data, pp 2 https://www.loc.gov/item/ca2187/ retrieved 11/25/2024 written circa 1996
2. SDERA/National City Depot Museum, https://www.sdera.org/depot.php retrieved 11/26/2024
3. Mellon, Delores, Historic American Buildings Survey CA-2654 Written Historical and Descriptive Data, pp 4 https://www.loc.gov/item/ca2187/ retrieved 11/25/2024 written circa 1996
4 Bryant, Keith L. Jr., History of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, University of Nebraska Press, Macmillan, 1974; Bison Books, 1982
5.Mellon, Delores, Historic American Buildings Survey CA-2654 Written Historical and Descriptive Data, pp 5 https://www.loc.gov/item/ca2187/ retrieved 11/25/2024 written circa 1996. Remaining data, unless otherwise footnoted, is also from this document.
6. SDERA/National City Depot Museum, https://www.sdera.org/donate.php retrieved 11/26/2024
7. Photo by Wmoraga, 30 September 2014, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. This is an image of a place or building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States of America. Its reference number is 96000424.
8. Photo by Gohlich, Edward, January 1996, Historic American Building Survey CA-2654-2 https://www.loc.gov/item/ca2187/
9. Photo by Gohlich Edward, January 1996, Historic American Building Survey CA-2654-6 https://www.loc.gov/item/ca2187/
10 Caldwell, Benjamin H., January 1996 Historic American Building Survey CA-2654, 00001a, https://www.loc.gov/item/ca2187/
11. Caldwell, Benjamin H., January 1996 Historic American Building Survey CA-2654, 00002a, https://www.loc.gov/item/ca2187/
12. Caldwell, Benjamin H., January 1996 Historic American Building Survey CA-2654, 00003a, https://www.loc.gov/item/ca2187/
13. Caldwell, Benjamin H., January 1996 Historic American Building Survey CA-2654, 00004a, https://www.loc.gov/item/ca2187/
14. Caldwell, Benjamin H., January 1996 Historic American Building Survey CA-2654, 00005a, https://www.loc.gov/item/ca2187/
15. Caldwell, Benjamin H., January 1996 Historic American Building Survey CA-2654, 00006a, https://www.loc.gov/item/ca2187/
16. Caldwell, Benjamin H., January 1996 Historic American Building Survey CA-2654, 00007a, https://www.loc.gov/item/ca2187/
17. Caldwell, Benjamin H., January 1996 Historic American Building Survey CA-2654, 00008a, https://www.loc.gov/item/ca2187/
18. Caldwell, Benjamin H., January 1996 Historic American Building Survey CA-2654, 00009a, https://www.loc.gov/item/ca2187/
19. Stewart, Richard A., Walker, Catherine L., January 1996 Historic American Building Survey CA-2654, 00010a, https://www.loc.gov/item/ca2187/
20. Stewart, Richard A., Walker, Catherine L., January 1996 Historic American Building Survey CA-2654, 00011a, https://www.loc.gov/item/ca2187/