Palms-Southern Pacific Railroad Depot facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Palms-Southern Pacific Railroad Depot |
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Palms Depot
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| Location | Heritage Square, 3800 N. Homer St., Montecito Heights, Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Governing body | Heritage Square |
| Designated | 1963 |
| Reference no. | 22 |
The Palms-Southern Pacific Railroad Depot is a historic train station. It was built a long time ago, between 1886 and 1888. This two-story wooden building was in the Palms area of Los Angeles, California. It stood at the corner of National Boulevard and Vinton Avenue.
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The Palms Railroad Depot
Early Days: The Grasshopper Stop
When the station first opened, people called it the "Grasshopper Stop." This was because there were so many grasshoppers in the area! Later, the Southern Pacific company changed its name to "The Palms." The community around the station then adopted this name too.
A Hub for Growth
The Palms Depot was very important. It was one of only two train stations on the fifteen-mile route between Los Angeles and Santa Monica. The other station was Ivy station in Culver City. The Palms Depot became the center of a growing farming community. Farmers used it to send their crops to other places.
Hollywood Connection
From the 1920s to the 1940s, the movie business grew very big in the Palms and Culver City areas. Famous movie stars, like Clark Gable, would get off the Pacific Electric Railway's "Red Cars" at the depot. They were on their way to work at the nearby film studios.
From Abandonment to Preservation
In 1953, the Red Car train line stopped running. The Palms Depot was then left empty. As the area changed into a neighborhood with many homes, the depot became a reminder of the past.
In the early 1960s, a local Boy Scout troop helped clean up the building. They even used it as their meeting place. In 1963, the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Board officially named the depot a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. It was the 22nd building to get this special title.
Even with this important title, the depot stayed empty. It was damaged by vandals and graffiti in the early 1970s. The Los Angeles Fire Department eventually said the building was unsafe. But people who wanted to save old buildings worked hard to protect it from being torn down.
In 1976, a group called the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Foundation raised money. They moved the entire building to the Heritage Square Museum in Montecito Heights. Today, the Palms Depot sits at the entrance of Heritage Square. It now houses the museum's gift shop.
