Kelso California
Posted by: 
Don.Morfe
N 35° 00.732 W 115° 39.192
11S E 622883 N 3875224
The ghost town of Kelso is found in the Mojave National Preserve, with the defunct railroad depot serving as the National Park Visitor Center.
Included on the grounds of the Visitor Center is the former Train Deport, old closed post office buiding.
Waymark Code: WM15VXK
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 03/04/2022
Views: 1
From the National Park website:
Originally opened in 1924 as a train station, Kelso Depot was renovated and reopened in 2005 as the Visitor Center for Mojave National Preserve. Former dormitory rooms contain exhibits describing the cultural and natural history of the surrounding desert. The baggage room, ticket office and two dormitory rooms have been furnished to illustrate depot life during the first half of the twentieth century.
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visit link)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION from the National Park website:
Life After Closure
Believing that the now empty building would become “a target for vandalism, unauthorized entrance, and a legal liability,” UP Division Superintendent G.R. Jenson made plans to raze the building. Local residents and others across the region heard about the proposed demolition and began to publicize the building’s plight.
They organized into the Kelso Depot Fund and set about saving the building. While they were able to stop the demolition, the costs of restoration grew too expensive for the group and they turned to local politicians and the federal government for assistance. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) already managed much of the land around Kelso as the East Mojave National Scenic Area, so it made sense for the BLM to gain ownership of the Depot. Members of Congress from the area went to work, and by 1992, the BLM had the title to the building.
With the passage of the California Desert Protection Act of 1994, the East Mojave National Scenic Area become Mojave National Preserve and the Depot passed into the hands of the National Park Service. Renovation of the Kelso Depot began in 2002. The building reopened to the public as the new visitor center for Mojave National Preserve in October, 2005.
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visit link)