Until Union Station opened on the edge of downtown LA in May 1939, Los Angeles had three major railway lines coming into the city: Union Pacific, Santa Fe, and Southern Pacific, and each line had their own station. The one pictured here was Santa Fe Railway’s La Grande Station which stood where Santa Fe Ave terminated at 2nd St, several blocks south and east of where Union Station now stands. Parked out front is Los Angeles Railway streetcar #5, which would have taken rail passengers to and from the heart of downtown. The La Grande opened in 1893, and this photo is circa 1897. It looks like the streets weren’t yet sealed as the road seems to be dented with tracks made by horse-drawn carriages.

Norm A. says: “This station was the western terminus of the Santa Fe Railway’s “California Limited,” the first train that allowed passengers to travel all the way from Chicago without changing trains. Its running time of 72 hours seems quaint and sluggish today, but it was science fiction in 1893– many people still remembered when it might take 72 days to reach Los Angeles.”

Here’s a photo of the La Grande Station under construction, circa mid-1890s:

And here’s a later (undated) photo

The La Grande station came down when Union Station superseded it. This is how that 1897 view looked in February 2023.