Beverly Hills station

Last updated
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills station.jpg
The first Beverly Hills station, c.1915–1920
General information
LocationSanta Monica Boulevard
Beverly Hills, California
Coordinates 34°04′20″N118°24′09″W / 34.072174°N 118.402449°W / 34.072174; -118.402449
Tracks4
History
Opened1896 (1896)
Closed1954 (1954) (passenger)
c.1960 (freight)
Rebuilt1930
Previous namesMorocco
Original company Pasadena and Pacific
Former services
Preceding station PE Bolt.svg Pacific Electric Following station
Terminus Hollywood Lewis
L.A. Speedway
towards Venice
Venice via Hollywood
(until 1941)
Lewis
towards Hill Street
L.A. Speedway
towards Santa Monica
Westgate
(until 1940)
Alpers
towards Hill Street
Sawtelle
(until 1940)
Coldwater Canyon
Terminus
Coldwater Canyon Line Terminus
Location
Beverly Hills station

Beverly Hills refers to two railway stations in Beverly Hills, California. With the first constructed in 1896, they came to be served by the Pacific Electric and Southern Pacific railroads until the 1960s. The first station was demolished and replaced with a second across the street.

Contents

History

First station

The first station was built in 1896 as a stop on the Pasadena and Pacific Railroad. Initially called Morocco, [1] it was located on the southeast corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and North Cañon Drive. [2] Pacific Electric acquired the station as a result of the Great Merger of 1911 and began operating Red Cars here. The site was sold with the station demolished in 1930 to allow for construction of the Beverly Hills Post Office (later the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts).

Second station

A new station was built across North Cañon Drive, on the southwest corner with Santa Monica Boulevard. The Spanish Baroque-style building was designed by Harry G. Koerner. [3] All passenger service ended by September 1954, [4] and the station building was removed in the 1960s. [2] The final Southern Pacific freight train left Beverly Hills in 1986. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Electric</span> Southern California transit company

The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system in the world in the 1920s. Organized around the city centers of Los Angeles and San Bernardino, it connected cities in Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Bernardino County and Riverside County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Monica Boulevard</span> East-west thoroughfare in Los Angeles, California, United States

Santa Monica Boulevard is a major west–east thoroughfare in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It runs from Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica near the Pacific Ocean to Sunset Boulevard at Sunset Junction in Los Angeles. It passes through Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. A portion of it is designated as California State Route 2, while the full avenue was Historic Route 66.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollywood Subway</span> Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument

The Hollywood Subway, as it is most commonly known, officially the Belmont Tunnel, was a subway tunnel used by the interurban streetcars of the Pacific Electric Railway. It ran from its northwest entrance in today's Westlake district to the Subway Terminal Building, in the Historic Core, the business and commercial center of Los Angeles from around the 1910s through the 1950s. The Subway Terminal was one of the Pacific Electric Railway’s two main hubs, the other being the Pacific Electric Building at 6th and Main. Numerous lines proceeded from the San Fernando Valley, Glendale, Santa Monica and Hollywood into the tunnel in Westlake and traveled southeast under Crown and Bunker Hill towards the Subway Terminal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monrovia–Glendora Line</span> Pacific Electric streetcar route (1902–1951)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glendale–Burbank Line</span> Pacific Electric streetcar route (1904–1955)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Angeles and Independence Railroad</span> Former train service from Los Angeles to Santa Monica

The Los Angeles and Independence Railroad, opened on October 17, 1875, was a steam-powered rail line which ran between the Santa Monica Long Wharf and 5th and San Pedro streets in downtown Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Monica Air Line</span> Former train service from Los Angeles to Santa Monica

The Santa Monica Air Line was an interurban railroad operated by the Pacific Electric between Santa Monica and downtown Los Angeles. Electric passenger service operated over the line between 1908 and 1953. After abandonment as a freight railroad, most of the route was converted to light rail for use by the Metro E Line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westgate Line</span> Pacific Electric streetcar line (1906–1940)

The Westgate Line was a suburban route operated by the Pacific Electric Railway from 1911 to 1940. This line was one of four lines connecting Downtown Los Angeles and Santa Monica that did not run through Hollywood. The line is notable for taking a circuitous route towards its end, along San Vicente Boulevard, mainly because it was built to encourage construction of new homes near Pacific Palisades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sawtelle Line</span> Los Angeles streetcar route (1901-1940)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Hollywood–Sherman Line</span> Pacific Electric street car line (1896–1953)

The South Hollywood–Sherman Line was a suburban route of the Pacific Electric Railway. The line ran between Downtown Los Angeles and the suburb of Sherman. The line was named after Moses Sherman, who built the line and the Sherman street car yard on the line in West LA. The large 5.56-acre (2.25 ha) rail facility was on Santa Monica Boulevard just west of La Cienega Boulevard. The yard had a steam power house, a car barn and a shop building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollywood Line</span> Pacific Electric streetcar line (1909–1953)

The Hollywood Line was a local streetcar line of the Pacific Electric Railway. It primarily operated between Downtown Los Angeles and Hollywood, with some trips as far away as Beverly Hills and West Los Angeles. It was the company's busiest route prior to the opening of the Hollywood Subway. Designated as route 32, the line operated from 1909 until 1954.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venice Short Line</span> Los Angeles streetcar route (1897–1950)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Angeles Pacific Railroad</span> California interurban and freight routes (1896–1911)

The Los Angeles Pacific Railroad (1896−1911) (LAP) was an electric public transit and freight railway system in Los Angeles County, California. At its peak it had 230 miles (370 km) of track extending from Downtown Los Angeles to the Westside, Santa Monica, and the South Bay towns along Santa Monica Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beverly Hills Main Post Office</span> Historic building in California, United States

The old Beverly Hills Main Post Office is a Renaissance Revival building at the Beverly Hills Civic Center in Beverly Hills, California. The building has carried the addresses 469 North Crescent Drive and 470 North Canon Drive. It was built as the main post office in the 1930s, remaining a post office until the 1990s, and in the 2010s became the Paula Kent Meehan Historic Building of the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western and Franklin Avenue Line</span> Former streetcar route in Los Angeles, California

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Bernardino–Riverside Line</span> Railway line in California

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venice–Inglewood Line</span> Historic rail route in California

The Venice–Inglewood Line is a former railway line in Los Angeles County, California. The route was established by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in 1887 before eventually being absorbed into the Pacific Electric interurban railway system. Service under electrification was very sparse, providing a suburban route between Venice and Inglewood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venice Boulevard Line</span> Pacific Electric streetcar route (1896–1950)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venice–Playa del Rey Line</span> Pacific Electric streetcar line (1905–1936)

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References

  1. 1 2 Schwieterman, Joseph P. (2004). When the Railroad Leaves Town: American Communities in the Age of Rail Line Abandonment, Western United States. Kirksville, Missouri: Truman State University Press. pp. 28, 30, 31. ISBN   978-1-931112-13-0.
  2. 1 2 Wanamaker, Marc (2005). Early Beverly Hills. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 22, 120. ISBN   9780738530680.
  3. "Architect Succumbs. H. G. Koerner Meets End Fourteen Hours After Testimonial Dinner". The Los Angeles Times. February 28, 1935. p. 28. Retrieved June 8, 2019 via Newspapers.com. Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  4. Veysey, Laurence R. (June 1958). A History Of The Rail Passenger Service Operated By The Pacific Electric Railway Company Since 1911 And By Its Successors Since 1953 (PDF). LACMTA (Report). Los Angeles, California: Interurbans. p. 22. ASIN   B0007F8D84. OCLC   6565577.