{{Short description|Train station in Barstow, California, U.S.}} {{Use American English|date=February 2025}} {{more citations needed|date=October 2024}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox station | style = Amtrak | name = Barstow, CA | other_name = Barstow Harvey House<br />Harvey House Rail Depot | image = Harveyhouse3.JPG | caption = The depot in 2006 | address = 685 North 1st Avenue<br />Barstow, California<ref name="BAR">{{cite web|url=http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=am/am2Station/Station_Page&code=BAR|title=Barstow, CA (BAR)|website=amtrak.com|publisher=Amtrak|access-date=11 Jan 2014}}</ref> | coordinates = {{coord|34|54|17|N|117|01|29|W|region:US-CA_type:railwaystation|display=inline,title}} | mapframe = yes | country = United States | owned = City of Barstow/BNSF | line = BNSF Southern Transcon<!-- The physical "line" is not the same as "services" which are detailed below --> | other = | platform = 1 side platform <br/>(others out of service) | tracks = Only 1 passing siding and 1 through track remaining | connections = {{bus icon}} Amtrak Thruway: 10 | parking = Yes | bicycle = | mpassengers = {{rail pass box|system=Amtrak|passengers={{Amtrak ridership|Barstow}}{{Amtrak ridership|citationCA}}|pass_year={{Amtrak ridership|date}}}} | opened = February 22, 1911 | rebuilt = | accessible = Yes | code = {{Amtrak code|BAR}} | services = {{Adjacent stations|system=Amtrak|line=Southwest Chief|left=Victorville|right=Needles}} | other_services_header = Former services | other_services_collapsible = yes | other_services = {{Adjacent stations|system1=Amtrak |line1=Desert Wind|left1=Victorville|right1=Las Vegas|note-mid1=1979&ndash;1997 |line2=Las Vegas Limited|left2=San Bernardino|right2=Las Vegas|note-mid2=1976 |system3=Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway |line3=main|left3=Lenwood|right3=Daggett |line5=Oakland-Barstow|left5=Hinkley|right5=|note-left5=Trackage rights via Southern Pacific Railroad }} | nrhp = {{Infobox NRHP | embed = yes | name = Harvey House Railroad Depot | architect = Francis W. Wilson | architecture = Santa Fe | added = April 3, 1975 | area = {{convert|1.1|acre|sigfig=1}} | refnum = 75000458<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref> | designated_other1 = California | designated_other1_date = 1976 | designated_other1_number = 892<ref name=CHL>{{cite ohp|892|Harvey House|13 Oct 2012}}</ref> | mpsub = }} }}

The '''Barstow Harvey House''', also known as '''Harvey House Railroad Depot''' and '''Barstow station''', is a historic building in Barstow, California. Originally built in 1911 as '''Casa del Desierto''', a Harvey House hotel and Santa Fe Railroad depot, it currently serves as an Amtrak station and government building housing city offices, the Barstow Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center, and two museums.

==History and architecture== thumb|left|Casa del Desierto shortly after construction

The Casa del Desierto station and hotel was built in 1911 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to replace an earlier one built in 1885 that burned in 1908.

The building is a synthesis of Spanish Renaissance and Classical Revival architecture styles, with a Moorish feeling as well. The concrete frame is faced with red tapestry brick and beige artificial stone. Majestic arcades and colonnades line the facade, providing shade from the desert sun. Red clay barrel tiles are used to cover the roof. Towers at the building's corners, and those of the central projecting bay facing the tracks, are capped with pointed roofs or painted domes.

Francis W. Wilson is the architect credited by the Historic American Buildings Survey of the National Park Service.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Survey |first=Historic American Buildings |title=Casa Del Desierto, 685 North First Avenue, Barstow, San Bernardino County, CA |url=https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ca1924/ |access-date=July 19, 2019 |website=www.loc.gov}}</ref> Amtrak's Great American Stations site says that "according to contemporary accounts, the Casa del Desierto ... was designed by Francis W. Wilson of Santa Barbara, Calif." Earlier Wilson had designed the Fray Marcos hotel in Williams, Arizona, and El Garces in Needles for the Santa Fe and Fred Harvey.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Barstow, CA (BAR) |url=https://www.greatamericanstations.com/stations/barstow-ca-bar/ |access-date=July 19, 2019}}</ref>

The historic structure is the finest remaining depot-hotel in California,<ref name="CHL" /> an elegant presence in the Mojave Desert beside the intermittent Mojave River. In the 1950s, the Barstow Harvey House was listed in the ''Green Book'' guide of business establishments that were friendly to African-American motorists.<ref>{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Candacy|author-link=Candacy Taylor |title=Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America |date=2020 |publisher=Abrams |isbn=978-1419738173 |location=New York}}</ref>{{page needed|date=August 2020}}

The Santa Fe closed the station in 1973. Casa del Desierto was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975,<ref name="nris" /> and designated as a California Historical Landmark in 1976.<ref name="CHL" /> It became derelict until bought in 1990 by the City of Barstow, then restored and repaired for more than $8 million following heavy damage in a 1992 earthquake.

After completion of the repairs, several city offices moved into the building. The Barstow Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center also operates out of the former Harvey House. Other public institutions located here are the Western America Railroad Museum on the east side and the Route 66 "Mother Road" Museum on the north side.

{{As of|2024}}, Amtrak plans to modify the platform for accessibility by {{FY}} 2026.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/projects/dotcom/english/public/documents/corporate/statefactsheets/CALIFORNIA23.pdf |title=Amtrak Fact Sheet Fiscal Year 2023 State of California |page=7 |publisher=Amtrak |date=March 2024}}</ref>

==See also== *Fred Harvey (entrepreneur) *Kelso Depot – Visitors Center *El Garces Hotel – Needles, California *California Historical Landmarks in San Bernardino County, California

== References == {{reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category-inline|Harvey House Railroad Depot}} {{Amtrak web|BAR|Barstow, CA}} *[http://www.trainweb.org/usarail/barstow.htm Barstow station USA Rail Guide (TrainWeb)] *[http://www.route66museum.org/ Barstow Route 66 "Mother Road" Museum] *[http://www.barstowchamber.com/ Barstow Area Chamber of Commerce]

{{Amtrak California stations}} {{National Register of Historic Places in California}}

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Category:Fred Harvey Company Category:Barstow, California Category:Museums in San Bernardino County, California Category:Railroad museums in California Category:Tourist attractions along U.S. Route 66 Category:Amtrak stations in San Bernardino County, California Category:Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach stations in San Bernardino County, California Category:Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway hotels Category:Former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway stations Category:Defunct hotels in California Category:History of the Mojave Desert region Category:History of San Bernardino County, California Category:California Historical Landmarks Category:National Register of Historic Places in San Bernardino County, California Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1911 Category:1911 establishments in California Category:Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in California Category:Neoclassical architecture in California Category:Spanish Revival architecture in California