Sunol Depot - Niles Canyon Transcontinental Railroad Historic District - Sunol, CA - NRHP Historic Districts - Contributing Buildings on Waymarking.com

"The SPRR constructed this standard one-story combination depot No. 7 in 1884. Railroads such as the SPRR created standard depot designs to served the many towns along its lines and represents an ear ly move towards the application of standard architectural designs on a large scale. More than economical, this standardization created a predictable experience for employees and customers, and contributed to the company’s brandi ng. A “combination depot” such as this housed facilities for a company agent, freight and passenger s in one building and were designed to serve small towns such as Sunol. Out of at least ten other No. 7 depots, Sunol is the last one remaining. The depot building is of wood construction and was designed in the Stick style that was fasionable at the time. It is 19 feet wide and 67 feet long. The roof is divdided into two parts with a gable roof over the eas t end, and an elevated hip roof over the freight room to the west. Shingles are of green asphalt but would have orginally have been green-stained shingles. Decorative scroll cut brackets supported the eaves and similar barge boards adorn the east gable end. The depot is divided into a series of rooms to serve a variety of functions. Starting from t he east, the first room is the passenger waiting room which is currently used a gift shop. The agents office is next to the west and features a five- window bay on the track side from which the company’s agent would conduct business related to train operations. The room also contained a public counter at which business could be conducted with shippers, and a small ticket window connects this office with the passenger wa iting room. This room is now used as the ticket office for the Niles Canyon Railway. The next room was the baggage room and is currently used for storage. Finally, the freight room takes up the rest of the building and is set about forty inches above grade so that its floor would be level with the floor of freight cars and teamsters’ wagons. This room is now used for exhibits and meetings. The frieght room had been surrounded on three sides by a freight platform to facilitate the loadi ng and unloading of freight from rail cars that would have been positioned next to this platform. A track had been located north of the building between the platform and the mainline for this purpose. The depot was closed in 1941 and sold to a private owner. The structure was relocated to site about three quarters of a mile west of Sunol and was used as a restaurant and residence until November 1998, when it was relolcated to its current site adjacent to the NCTR. The original location was not available due to the widening of Kilkare Road that occurred immediately after the depot’s removal. The new location is approximately 75 feet to the west and 14 feet north of the original site and retains much of the context and setting of the original site. The new location has reestablished the building’s relationship to the railroad, town, Kilkare Road and the surounding landscape restori ng its historic ingegrity. The building has been restored to represent its appearance in the 1920s and once again serves as a railroad depot for the passengers of the NCTR. The restoration is not yet comp lete as the freight platform, train order board, and chimney still need to be restored. " (visit link)

Name of Historic District (as listed on the NRHP): Niles Canyon Transcontinental Railroad Historic District Link to nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com page with the Historic District: [Web Link] NRHP Historic District Waymark (Optional): [Web Link] Address: 6 Kilkare Rd. Sunol, CA 94586 How did you determine the building to be a contributing structure?: Narrative found on the internet (Link provided below) Optional link to narrative or database: [Web Link]

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