River Station

For the former station in Illinois, see River Station (Peoria, Illinois).

River Station, earlier known as the San Fernando Street Depot and later commonly referred to as old River Station, was a Southern Pacific Railroad passenger station location, southwest of the Los Angeles River and north of Downtown, in Los Angeles, California. The original building served as the company's primary Los Angeles terminal until the opening of Arcade Depot in 1888. A rebuilt station would continue to operate as a passenger stop until 1915 when it was retained for freight and storage. The location for both stations was at the Southern Pacific's Los Angeles freight yard, at the north end of present-day Chinatown in Central Los Angeles. It was demolished in 1940, though the site is noted within "The Cornfield" section of Los Angeles State Historic Park.

River Station
The second River Station
General information
Location	The Cornfield, Los Angeles State Historic Park (site), Los Angeles, California
Coordinates	34.0687°N 118.2311°W / 34.0687; -118.2311
Owned by	Southern Pacific Railroad
History
Opened	1877 (1877)
Closed	1915 (1915)
Rebuilt	1887
Previous names	San Fernando Street Depot
Former services
Preceding station Southern Pacific Railroad Following station Glendale toward San Francisco Coast Line Central Station Terminus Glendale toward Oakland Pier San Joaquin Valley Line Terminus Los Angeles – San Pedro Naud Junction toward San Pedro Santa Monica Branch Naud Junction toward Port Los Angeles Sunset Route Shorb toward New Orleans

History

First station (1875−1887)

The station was opened following the Southern Pacific's acquisition of the Los Angeles & San Pedro Railroad in 1873 and the railroad's construction of line linking San Francisco to Los Angeles. The first station utilizing the site was a wooden structure built in 1875, though passenger and logistical operations did not move here until June 1877. Transcontinental trains started serving the station in 1881. The two-story building had both women's and men's waiting rooms and later had a hotel and restaurants added to it. The station was assigned the first telephone number in Los Angeles in 1882. It was the arrival point of many migrants drawn during the land boom of the mid-1880s.

Second station (1887−1902)

The third River Station, c. 1919

The second station was built in 1887 on the site of the demolished original one. It was a brick Romanesque Revival style building. The name of the station was officially changed to River Station in July 1893. As development had coalesced around what became Downtown Los Angeles, Southern Pacific responded by building the Arcade Depot in 1888, diminishing the importance of River Station. This station building was razed in June 1902.

Third station

After the second station was torn down, the freight facilities were greatly expanded to include a new 600-by-50-foot (183 m × 15 m) depot featuring 32 cargo bays for transloading freight to and from trucks along with five scales and a new 200-foot-long (61 m) freight platform. Southern Pacific's passenger accommodations were moved to a nearby storefront to maintain service. The second River Station continued to be used for passengers until 1915, then it was converted to storage.

After railway use

The building was leased out as a Christian mission between 1934 and 1940, its last use before demolition that year. Segments of the freight depot were demolished in 1971. The yards were subsequently removed and the site was renovated into the Los Angeles State Historic Park.

See also

• "Not A Cornfield"
• Zanja Madre

Further reading

• Historical Outline of the Southern Pacific Company. Southern Pacific Bureau of News. 1933.