1899 Fresno Station

Wednesday afforded me a day off locally which as of late has been something of a rarity. That being the case I took a morning drive to downtown Fresno while doing errands to the 1899 Fresno Station.

Fresno Station is officially as the Santa Fe Passenger Depot and is owned by the city of Fresno and is serviced by Amtrak. As I was heading to downtown on Ventura Avenue (Old California State Route 180) the next Amtrak train was ironically pulling into station underneath the CA 41 freeway.

Fresno Station as I noted above was opened in 1899 along the San Francisco and San Joaquin Railroad by Santa Fe Railway. Fresno Station is located at the intersection of Tulare Street and Santa Fe Avenue.

Fresno Station apparently had gone through a series of expansions and renovations during the 20th century before falling into disrepair before it was purchased by the city of Fresno in 2003. The current renovation dates back to 2005 which I'm to understand was supposed to make it appear as it did back in 1899. The main building at the station is very ornate even if the neighborhood isn't the best. Apparently the destination of choice via the Amtrak service tends to be the city of Hanford to the south in Kings County.

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