Ashland Freight Depot - Folsom, California
N 38° 40.654 W 121° 10.711
10S E 658444 N 4282571
Constructed in the late 1850s, the Ashland Depot is reputedly the oldest existing railroad station in the United States west of the Mississippi River.
Waymark Code: WM5BRQ
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 12/14/2008
Published By:
PFF
Views: 22
From a historical marker on the outside of the building –
This freight depot was constructed around 1858 – 1859 in the vicinity of Ashland Station Shopping Center at the corner of Greenback Lane and Folsom-Auburn Road after a railroad bridge was built across the American River near where the Rainbow Bridge is now located. The railroad had two branches. One went through what is now Orangevale to Lincoln and the other branch headed in the direction of Auburn.
The City of Folsom had the depot moved during the 1970s to this location for its preservation. This is the oldest freight depot west of the Mississippi. Notice the square nails and mortise and tenon joints of the floor support beams.
From a historical marker on the outside of the building -
In 1973, the oldest depot in the West moved to a new home. Ashland Station, reportedly the oldest railroad depot west of the Mississippi, was transported across Rainbow Bridge to its present location at the Folsom Interpretive Area next to the Folsom Chamber of Commerce. Crews moved the rustic station from its previous site at the intersection of Folsom Road and Greenback Lane by inching it across the narrow bridge. Ashland Station served the small town of Ashland, previously known as Big Gulch, Russville and Rowlesville. Mining is thought to have begun as early as 1849 and this settlement boasted a tumultuous history with names that changed almost as fast as their rowdy population.
In 1862, the California Central Railroad and the Sacramento Placer Nevada Railroad completed tracks. Trains heading north from Folsom crossed the American River over the high-rise railroad bridge to Ashland and then continued to Auburn or Marysville. In the late 1860s the Central Pacific Railroad offered Sacramento to Roseville service forcing Sacramento Placer Nevada Railroad into foreclosure. The tracks would be eventually used for the Folsom to Placerville connection. With the end of the railway, the population of the town moved and the depot sat empty or as a storage shed for years until moved to its current location. [end of narrative]
Is the station/depot currently used for railroad purposes?: No
Is the station/depot open to the public?: Yes
If the station/depot is not being used for railroad purposes, what is it currently used for?:
It is on display at an interpretive center.
What rail lines does/did the station/depot serve?: The California Central Railroad and the Sacramento Placer Nevada Railroad
Station/Depot Web Site: [Web Link]
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Visit Instructions:
Please post an original picture of the station/depot taken while you were there. Please also record how you came to be at this station/depot and any interesting information you learned about it while there.