National City station

National City
National City
	Historic American Buildings Survey photograph of the station, 1996
General information
Location	900 West 23rd Street; National City, California
History
Opened	1882
Closed	1930 (passengers)
Former services
	Station and General Office, California Southern Railroad
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	California Historical Landmark No. 1023
Coordinates	32°39′37″N 117°06′41″W / 32.660194°N 117.111511°W
Area	1.3 acres (0.53 ha)
Built	1882
Built by	California Southern Railroad
Architectural style	Italianate
NRHP reference No.	96000424
CHISL No.	1023
Added to NRHP	April 18, 1996

National City station is a former railway station in National City, California. The California Southern Railroad, a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, chose National City as the West Coast base of operations at the terminus of their planned transcontinental railroad.

History

The station building was built in 1882, following construction of a rail yard the previous year. On November 14, 1885, the first transcontinental passenger train departed National City en route to the east coast.^[2] In 1889, Santa Fe moved their workshops and offices to San Bernardino and Los Angeles and operations significantly declined at National City. Passenger trains lasted until 1930 and the station served as a freight depot until the 1960s. It was subsequently used as a restaurant and office spaces. The building was restored to its original condition in 1997 by the San Diego Electric Railway Association,^[3] who opened it as a museum.

The station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 18, 1996, as the Station and General Office, California Southern Railroad. It is also listed as a California Historical Landmark under the name National City Santa Fe Rail Depot.