California - La Mesa Depot Museum

La Mesa, CA - The La Mesa Depot Museum is La Mesa, California's oldest building in its original form and is the sole surviving San Diego and Cuyamaca Railway Station in existence. The building you see today on the corner of Spring Street and La Mesa Boulevard in downtown La Mesa has an colorful history.

In 1974, the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum Association located and purchased the remains of the building, again for one dollar. In 1980-1981 the building was returned to its original site and, using money from a federal grant, was restored to its 1915 condition. Preservation was truly a labor of love for volunteers of the San Diego Railroad Museum, with help from members of the La Mesa Historical Society.

Today the Railroad Museum owns and maintains the building, and the City of La Mesa owns and maintains the grounds and land beneath it. The public is admitted free to the La Mesa Depot Museum for tours on weekend afternoons. Visitors can inspect the steam locomotive and string of freight cars on the nearby track and pass through the ticket/waiting area and view the telegrapher's station and a small exhibit area in the baggage room. This building and its past are a fascinating look at a bit of small-town railroading from yesteryear and its importance to the community it served.

Site URL: https://www.psrm.org/visitor-information/la-mesa-depot/
Date resource added: 1-Nov-2016
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