End of the line for cafe — but not the Depot

“The use of the Richardson Romanesque Revival style of architecture was exceedingly rare for railroad depots in California,” the marker says. The style and the use of Almaden sandstone provide strong links to Stanford University and its architect, Charles Coolidge, “who may have designed this station.”

Recently, railroad historian Doug Offenbacher left little doubt that Coolidge designed the depot, which could be a sister of the Los Guilicos station in Kenwood between Santa Rosa and Sonoma. He noted that both depots were built simultaneously and opened 1888. In addition, both buildings share the same interior detailing as well as being constructed from locally quarried stone, Kenwood from basalt quarried near Santa Rosa while San Carlos was built from Almaden sandstone quarried south of San Jose.

The near twin depots share everything from their simultaneous design and construction to their undeniable ties to Stanford University and Charles Coolidge, Offenbacher said.

“It’s unimaginable that the depots of San Carlos, and Los Guilicos, were not Coolidge products to at least a great degree,” Offenbacher continued. Rail service to the Kenwood Station ended in 1934, but the depot was saved and today serves as a community activities center.

According to Caltrain, the first post office in San Carlos opened in the depot in 1895 followed by a library in 1911. In an interesting footnote, there was a time when the San Carlos station was used so little in the early years that during the pre-dawn hours chrysanthemum merchants taking their flowers to the floral market in San Francisco needed to flag down the early-morning trains to make a special stop.

Following the 1906 earthquake, the depot was the only public building left in San Carlos, so it became the center of community activity. After Southern Pacific withdrew its agent in 1960, the tenants included the Chamber of Commerce, a real estate service and the Depot Cafe.

In 1982, San Carlos became the first depot Caltrain purchased for restoration. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. Other depots on the register include Millbrae, Burlingame, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Santa Clara and Diridon station in San Jose.

Noviscky auctioned off around 200 of the railroad photos and other memorabilia from the depot and donated the remaining items to charities. When asked how much she made from the auction, she would only say that she did “OK.”

As for the future, she noted that she works in real estate under the name Mary Abolmoluki.

“I will keep very busy,” she said. “But 34 years was enough.”

We will have to wait to see what the next stop will be for the depot.

The Rear View Mirror by history columnist Jim Clifford appears in the Daily Journal every other Monday. Objects in The Mirror are closer than they appear.