N.C.O. Depot - Alturas, CA
N 41° 29.201 W 120° 32.390
10T E 705382 N 4595707
This historic building is currently home to the Alturas Garden Club and located along N East Street in Alturas, CA.
Waymark Code: WMJNWF
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 12/10/2013
Views: 1
While visiting Alturas recently, our family came across this charming stone building on our way to visit the very-historic
Sacred Heart Catholic Church nearby. We had a hunch this building had a story to tell we were right, after getting home and doing some online research. What we didn't expect was to read that this building was relocated stone-by-stone from its previous location to its current one.
The following excerpt comes from a personal website by Craig Bass and devoted to the former N.C.O. (Nevada-California-Oregon) Railroad that once operated through Alturas:
"The passenger depot at Alturas has a rather interesting history. It was constructed of native stone and originally stood at the point where Highway 299 now crosses the Lakeview line in east Alturas. When the local citizens complained that it was too far from town, the N-C-O had it moved to its present location. Before disassembling the building, company workers carefully numbered each stone and noted how it fit into the building. All the stones were then moved to the new location and put back together exactly the same as they had been in the former location. The building is currently the property of the Alturas Garden Club and is used as a meeting hall."
Bowden, Jack and Dill, Tom. The Modoc: Southern Pacific's Backdoor to Oregon. Page 22. Hamilton, Montana: Oso Publishing Co., 2002.
My posted original location coordinates are approximate only because this former depot could have been located on any one of the four corners of the Lakeview Line where it crosses Hwy 299.
This depot is now home to the Alturas Garden Club and it seems a fitting venue in this quaint little building that reminded us of an English cottage in the country.