Santa Fe Depot - Union Station

Santa Fe Depot. 1050 Kettner Boulevard

A beautiful example of the Spanish Mission Revival style of architecture. It's everywhere down here, but I've seen few as grand as the Santa Fe Depot, outside of Balboa Park. As with most of the buildings in Balboa, the Depot was built for the Panama-California Exposition from 1915-1917, which celebrated the opening of the canal.


Like the Panama Canal, the railroad itself, going through the Laguna Mountains, is another example of the great engineering feats at the turn of the 20th century by American engineers. For me, the Santa Fe Depot is a symbol of the imagination and ingenuity of those men. The interior is still impressive, with its arched ceilings and glass chandeliers on the side, even with Amtrak ticket line. It is visually stimulating and I lament that more of these buildings are not built nowadays.