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Palo Alto Historic Buildings Inventory

212 High Street
Trolley Barn

inventory photo 212
Inventory photo View from Hawthorne along High Street

 

The following is from the Historic Buildings Inventory as revised in 1985:

Physical appearance:   The present building is a remodeled portion of the original streetcar barn. The structure has been resurfaced, provided with a parapet and with recessed windows inside façade–high arches.

Significance:  Palo Alto's streetcar line began when J. F. Parkinson acquired a franchise in 1905, sold it to L. E. Hanchett in 1906, who re-sold to Southern Pacific in 1908.  As part of the Peninsula Railway Co., cars operated in the city until 1925 (the section from Palo Alto to Stanford continued to be used until 1929).

When tracks were pulled up in 1929, the car barn was stranded and fell into disuse. Most of it was demolished in 1927 to make way for the Yellow Cab Co. garage. The remainder, thought to have housed the power station, was further modernized by architect George Cody for owner Lloyd McVicker in 1974.

Other past uses were a garage and the Yellow Cab Company station.

 

trolley barn map
Palo Alto Historical Association Guy Miller Archives photo Location map

This house was built in 1907 and is a Category 3 on the Historic Buildings Inventory. The architect for the 1974 remodel was George Cody, the original builder was C. W. Taylor and Sons. The property measures 142 by 35.37 feet.

Sources: Palo Alto Times 10/6/06, 12/11/06, [1]?/1/07, [1]?/1/08, 8/28/47, 5/21/74, 5/22/74; notes of Christopher Cavette, 1974, in Palo Alto Historical Association street railway file; Wheel Clicks, Vol 5, #1, July 1944

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