Most photos I’ve seen of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway’s La Grande station at Santa Fe Ave and 2nd St, in downtown LA were taken, understandably, facing the front entrance. So it’s nice to see a different angle. The photographer was standing on the northern edge of the station looking south along Santa Fe Ave toward the station’s gardens. The station opened in 1893 so I’d say this photo was taken not long after that because the gardens look like they’re freshly laid out.
This circa 1911 photo shows what those gardens grew into:
This is roughly how that view looked in May 2024. There’s no trace of what used to be after La Grande station closed in May 1939 ahead of the Santa Fe railway moving into the new Union Station that same month.
Should I be surprised they had sprinklers of sorts in the 1890s? Just don’t think I’ve seen anything like that in a photo before.
I was surprised, too. If you’d asked me, I’d have guesses 1950s!
Garden and paths were laid out in that odd “8” figure resembling the “Kite Shaped Track” which had been a big tourist selling point for Santa Fe Route predecessors. It involved the Inland Empire areas from San Bernardino to Redland, Highlands, and Mentone. Santa Fe essentially had to work their way into Los Angeles from the east, sometimes even using Southern Pacific trackage as they were already well established. After becoming more independent via that Pasadena and foothills line, opening this station became a priority. Probably wasn’t the best choice for locating, but they made it work for as long as possible. Union Pacific was even more cramped on the opposite bank and moved over in the ‘20’s to S.P.’s Central Station a while after it had been opened to replace the old Arcade Depot.
Out of the blue yesterday I came across this recently posted youtube video titled:
“Unveiling LA’s Marvelous Forgotten Train Stations.” (It’s narrated by an Aussie and there are a few odd inserts in it.)
Martin, have a look on NLA at page 1777 (post 35537) for the Crane Company Employee shot. It’s the balcony dining area of the Fred Harvey restaurant at LAUPT.