Glendale Southern Pacific Railroad Depot (Glendale Transportation Center)

The railroad depot in Glendale on W. Cerritos Ave. began as part of the Southern Pacific Railway system. The grand opening celebration for the depot was held on March 27th, 1924. Although built of cast concrete, the exterior stucco was meant to resemble adobe construction. Spanish Colonial details include the elaborately decorated matching portals to the waiting room from the street and track sides, with cast stone multi-curved arches topped with finials, plus mermen, a shield, and wrought iron balconet above the double wooden doors. The depot has appeared as a backdrop in several Hollywood films including Double Indemnity in 1944. The Glendale Southern Pacific Railroad Depot became a National Register of Historic Places entry in 1997. The renovated depot, now the Glendale Transportation Center complex, still operates as a train station and transportation hub for Amtrak, Metrolink rail, Greyhound, Metro Buses, and the Glendale Beeline.

The City of Glendale incorporated in 1906 and merged with Tropico in 1911. The 1920s saw rapid population growth in Glendale with the extension of the interurban railway system to the town. The depot for the Southern Pacific Railroad in Glendale was designed in Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival style by the architectural firm of MacDonald and Couchot; Kenneth MacDonald was an architect and Maurice Couchot was an engineer. The pair also designed railroad depots in Los Gatos and Santa Clara, but neither still stands.

The one-story, rectangular building of reinforced concrete was covered in stucco to resemble adobe construction. The east facade, facing the street, and the west side, facing the railroad tracks, were similar in appearance. The taller, central block with a flat roof held the waiting room and was entered through a decorative, cast stone portal (on both east and west elevations) with Baroque elements. To the south of the enclosed waiting room was an outdoor waiting room sheltered by a pergola of exposed cedar logs and stenciled beams on concrete columns. To the north was the station office, with a side-gabled, clay tile roof.

In 1943. the depot underwent some minor remodeling; the outdoor waiting room was extended southward from three bays to six, and the original three bays were enclosed to form a lunchroom. The lunchroom was removed in 1979, returning the original three bays to their earlier appearance. From 1952 to 1954, a small office was built onto the south end of the outdoor waiting area, with stucco walls and a flat roof; a covered overhang above a pair of columns provides additional shelter on the south end of the depot. From north to south, the depot's rooms functioned as: a baggage room, office, waiting room, restrooms and vestibule, outdoor waiting room, and district office (used for storage by the 1990s). The high ceiling of the waiting room featured exposed concrete beams that originally were decorated with stencils; the original floor was scored concrete.

The City of Glendale purchased the property in 1989. There was some minor damage to the depot as a result of the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The depot was restored in 1999 and again in 2012. Also known as the Southern Pacific Station, Glendale, or the Glendale Transportation Center, the structure has been in continuous use as a transportation depot since 1924. Although built in Glendale, the depot served passengers from neighboring Burbank and Pasadena as well.

Dube, Jean-Guy Tanner. HABS documentation of Glendale Southern Pacific Railroad Depot, California, CA-2909. Historic American Buildings Survey. Washington, DC. National Park Service, circa 2012.

Heumann, Leslie. NRHP nomination of Glendale Southern Pacific Railroad Depot. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1996.