Streetcar Depot, West Los Angeles
The Sawtelle Streetcar Depot is located on the grounds of the Sawtelle Veterans Home in Sawtelle, in the Westside area of Los Angeles, California.
The depot was designed by J. Lee Burton in 1900, in conjunction with the nearby Wadsworth Chapel also on the Veterans Home campus. Both were listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.History
This station was formerly the Los Angeles Pacific Railroad terminus of the "Soldier's Home Branch," a short extension of the Santa Monica Air Line to the then Pacific Branch National Military Home − Los Angeles Disabled Veterans Home. The depot also served the Balloon Route.
The line was maintained, but only sporadically used, until 1953 when passenger service on the Air Line was eliminated. The right-of-way was kept intact, but eventually sold piecemeal for building development making restoration of its full service route unlikely. However, the former section of the former Air Line right of way will now be used by the Expo Line Phase 2 extension. The historical section started at the Home Station, the present day Expo / Sepulveda Metro station location, and continued north on the western side of Sepulveda Boulevard to the Sawtelle depot.Design
The wooden building was designed in the Victorian Eastlake Movement style by J. Lee Burton, and completed in 1900.
It is similar to another still-standing structure of the Air Line, the Palms-Southern Pacific Railroad Depot.
