Sonoma Depot - Sonoma, CA - Exact Replicas on Waymarking.com

Located in Deport Park is the Depot Park Museum which is housed in an exact replica of the former depot which burned down in a fire in 1976. The replica depot was built on the same site as the relocated original depot from the Sonoma Plaza in 1890. There is a historical marker near the front entrance to the museum that highlights the history behind this depot and it reads:

SONOMA DEPOT

On January 2, 1976 the original depot was destroyed by fire. With the united efforts of City of Sonoma, Sonoma Valley Historical Society and hundreds of interested and dedicated citizens, sufficient funds were collected to reconstruct the building. The original depot was constructed in 1880 on the north side of the plaza and in 1890 it was moved to the present location and expanded to accommodate the growing needs of the Valley. The City of Sonoma purchased the depot and surrounding three acres in 1975 to preserve for future generations an important era in the history of Sonoma.

The museum website mentions this as well and reads:

The City of Sonoma acquired the old Northwestern Pacific depot and adjacent land to prevent the loss of the historic site. In 1976, fire destroyed the historic train depot in Sonoma. A major fund-raising drive by the Society, along with a grant from the city, provided funding to rebuild the depot as a community museum. The adjacent land was dedicated as Depot Park. The new museum and park opened in 1979.

I toured the inside of the museum and took many pictures of the original depot. The replica looks just like the original did. The Sonoma depot discontinued railway service in 1960. Interestingly, the curator of the museum went on to explain that at the railroad once ran along E Spain Street, on the north side of present-day Sonoma Plaza and in the heart of the plaza was once a roundhouse. It was replaced by the current City Hall, built in 1906. Even before the railroad, the plaza was home to military parade grounds for soldiers stationed at the barracks near the plaza.

Where is original located?: Destroyed from fire Where is this replica located?: Depot Park Who created the original?: City of Sonoma Internet Link about Original: http://www.depotparkmuseum.org/history.html Year Original was Created (approx. ok): 1880

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