CONTENTS:
Heritage Square
Museum
3800 Homer Street
Los Angeles, California 90031
Tel.
323-225-2700
Where History Comes Alive!
Overland
travel by wagon, stagecoach or horse to the West, and Southern California in
particular, was expensive and slow and trails were poorly maintained and badly
mapped. With
the arrival of the Southern Pacific in 1876, Southern California was transformed
virtually overnight. The train offered a more efficient
solution for hauling mail, freight and passengers. Farmers
from the east and mid west were the first group courted by the railroad to
settle the region. The railroad profited by transporting agricultural
commodities across the country. Furthermore,
Los
Angeles was a paradise compared to cities in the east that seemed to be choking
on factories and overcrowding.
The railroad, the largest landowner in California and eager to sell more
of it, was responsible in many ways for manufacturing an idealized
version of the area’s assets and potential, what today we call the
“California Dream”.
The cluster of low hills that laid about midway between Los Angeles and Santa Monica at first prevented the construction of a railroad line between the two cities. However by 1887, a new train depot stood overlooking a newly laid out grid of streets from the new subdivision called the Palms. This town was the only sign of urbanization between Los Angeles and the sea. A few years later Palms Depot soon became part of the Southern Pacific rail system, and then in 1908 became electrified. The Palms Depot provided passenger and freight service until 1933 when the agency was transferred to Culver Junction, a mile to the east. "The Big Red (trolley) Cars" continued to stop at Palms until the line was discontinued in 1953. The station also served as a backdrop for many films, including shorts by Laurel and Hardy and The Little Rascals, and served for a time as a Boy Scout clubhouse. The Palms Depot was declared an historical monument in 1963; nevertheless, it fell into disrepair and was finally condemned. In 1975, S.O.S. (Save Our Station), a grass roots organization, succeeded in moving the depot to the museum, thus saving it from demolition.
The exterior and interior have been restored to their original Eastlake style. Today the depot serves as the Museum's Visitor Center and Store. Tours begin on the station platform.