Home > California > San+Carlos > Southern Pacific Depot, 559 El Camino Real, San Carlos, San Mateo County, CA
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Item Title
Southern Pacific Depot, 559 El Camino Real, San Carlos, San Mateo County, CA
Location559 El Camino Real,
San+Carlos, CA
Find maps of San+Carlos, CA
Created/Published
Documentation compiled after 1933.
Notes
Survey number HABS CA-2278
Significance: The Southern Pacific Depot at San Carlos is a rare example of the use of the Richardsonian Romanesque style in California railroad station architecture. It was the first permanent building erected by the San Carlos Land Company to form the nucleus for their speculative town development.
Collection
Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)
Contents
Photograph caption(s):
1. Northeast facade, view to southwest, 90mm lens.
2. Northeast and northwest facades, view to south, 90mm lens.
3. Oblique view from lift-bed truck, showing deteriorated slate roof, general appearance of passenger platform area and setting; view to south, 90mm lens.
4. Northwest facade, view to southeast, 65mm lens.
5. Oblique view of northwest and southwest facades, view to southeast, 90mm lens.
6. Oblique view from lift-bed truck, showing northwest and southwest facades; projecting hip roof section supported by masonry pillars marks location of former porte cochere, removed in 1937; that portion wall beneath this roof section, containing visible double doors, is of frame and stucco construction, scored and tinted to imitate sandstone masonry; interior space formed by this enclosure of portion of former porte cochere now contains restrooms; view to southeast, 65mm lens.
7. Southwest facade, view to northeast, 90mm lens.
8. Oblique view of southwest and southeast facades, view to north, 90mm lens.
9. Oblique view from lift-bed truck, showing deteriorated slate roof and chimney, bicycle lockers placed against southeast wall; view to north, 90mm lens.
10. Oblique view of southeast and northeast facades, view to west, 90mm lens.
11. Oblique view from lift-bed truck, showing southeast and northeast facades, deteriorated roof, general condition of passenger platform and setting; view to northwest, 90mm lens.
12. Oblique view of northeast facade, showing missing rain gutter, deteriorated slate roof, broken windows in tower; view west-northwest, 90mm lens.
13. Detail, northeast facade, original door from platform to waiting room, now non-functional; note holes in mortar joints used to hold masonry anchors for mounting advertising signs for previous building tenants; view to southwest, 90mm lens.
14. Detail, northeast facade, arched main window of waiting room; note quality of stonework and mortar joint tooling beneath window, representing a ca. 1937 alteration; view to southwest, 90mm lens.
15. Detail, northeast facade, operator's bow window and tower, showing knee braces carried on stone ancons used to support eaves, view to northwest, 90mm lens.
16. Detail, northeast facade, operator's bow window and tower; note condition of slates on tower skirt roof, missing section of gutter at left side of skirt roof, missing window panes; note also knee braces carried on masonry ancons; view to southwest, 90mm lens.
17. Detail, coupled windows in southwest facade of waiting room, view to northeast, 90mm lens.
18. Detail, typical quarry-faced ashlar blocks, convex-tooled mortar joints, on pillars in former porte porte cochere area, view to southeast, 135mm lens.
19. Detail, southwest facade, typical deterioration of lower courses of sandstone and mortar joints, apparently caused by waiting patrons resting feet against stone, causing mechanical abrading of surface, view to northeast, 90mm lens.
20. Detail, of tower, northeast facade, showing condition of skirt roof, windows, truncated chimney, dentil course, view to northwest from lift-bed truck, 65mm lens.
21. Detail, conical tower roof and sheet metal finial, view to northwest from lift-bed truck, 90mm lens.
22. Detail, chimney on southwest side of building, which served waiting room fireplace; note deterioration of upper sandstone courses; view to northeast from lift-bed truck, 135mm lens.
23. Detail, ridge cresting and finial elements, deteriorated slates, southeast roof slope, view to northwest from lift-bed truck, 135mm lens.
24. Roof detail from lift-bed truck, showing pan roof above breezeway, with sawn redwood trim, tube-type drains; note missing rain gutter at roof edge, deteriorated condition of slates; view to south, 90mm lens.
25. Detail, roof at junction of main roof and tower skirt roof; note condition of slates, subroof, missing gutter, lead pipe gutter outlet; view to northwest from lift-bed truck, 135mm lens.
26. Detail, typical section of roof; note condition of slates, missing slates replaced by sheet metal inserts, heavy moss growth on lower edges of slates and completely filling channel of remaining gutter section; view to southwest from lift-bed truck, 135mm lens.
27. Interior of former waiting room, now used as restaurant; only remaining original fixtures are windows and Romanesque-arched fireplace, the latter uncovered during removal of railroad-placed drywall by restaurant owner; view to south, 65mm lens.
28. Interior of former waiting room, view to west-northwest, 65mm lens.
29. Attic interior showing roof truss system over waiting room; note knob-and-tube wiring system; brick section at far left is rear of tower, which of brick masonry construction above the first story level, joined to the exterior walls of stone masonry; view to southeast along axis of building, 90mm lens and electronic flash illumination.
30. Oblique view of attic interior, view to southwest, 65mm lens and electronic flash illumination.
31. Tower interior, second story level, which served as tiny bedroom for station operator; frame visible at far left originally housed cooler vented to exterior via louvers placed in window fenestration; view to northeast, 65mm lens with electronic flash illumination.
32. Northeast facade, view to southwest, 90mm lens; compare with CA-2278-1.
33. Northeast and northwest facades, view to south, 135mm lens; compare with CA-2278-2.
34. Northwest facade, view to southeast, 90mm lens; compare with CA-2278-4.
35. Oblique view of northwest and southwest facades, view to southeast, 90mm lens; compare with CA-2278-5.
36. Southwest facade, view to northeast, 135mm lens; compare with CA-2278-7.
37. Oblique view of southwest and southeast facades, view to north, 90mm lens; compare with CA-2278-8.
38. Southeast facade, view to northwest, 90mm lens. Former end baggage door infilled by Southern Pacific ca. 1937.
39. Oblique view of southeast and northeast facades, view to west, 90mm lens; compare with CA-2278-10.
40. Oblique view of northeast facade, view to northwest, 90mm lens; compare with CA-2278-12.
41. Detail, northeast facade, original door from platform to waiting room, now non-functional, view to southwest, 90mm lens; compare with CA-2278-13.
42. Detail, northeast facade, arched main window of waiting room, view to southwest, 90mm lens; compare with CA-2278-14.
43. Detail, northeast facade, operator's bow window and tower, view to northwest, 65mm lens; compare with CA-2278-15.
44. Northeast facade of main block of station, view to southwest, 90mm lens.
45. Detail, northeast facade, operator's bow window and tower, 90mm lens; compare with CA-2278-16.
46. Detail, coupled windows in southwest facade of waiting room, view to northeast, 90mm lens; compare with CA-2278-17.
47. Detail, northeast facade, repaired tower skirt roof, knee braces, downspout, view to north- northwest, 90mm lens.
48. Detail, southeast facade, reconstructed station sign, view to northwest, 135mm lens.
49. Detail, southeast and northeast facades of baggage room, view to west, 90mm lens.
50. Detail, northeast facade, reconstructed baggage doors, view to southwest, 90mm lens. These doors had been removed and lost by Southern Pacific in the 1960s or 1970s, and were reconstructed using original plans and historic photos for guidance. Note also the almost immediate appearance of graffiti.
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