{"nrhp_refnum":"85000357","name":"NCO Railway Depot","other_names":["The Whistle Stop"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"East and 3rd Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Alturas","county":"Modoc County","state":"CA","lat":41.48659637500003,"lon":-120.53979497499995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-02-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 1-1/2-story stone block former railway passenger station at the northeast corner of East and Third Streets in Alturas, Modoc County, California. Built in 1908 for the Nevada-California-Oregon Railway and moved in 1915 to its present site.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is an excellent and unusual example of late Queen Anne styling in stone for a small California railroad station, a style more common in smaller eastern U.S. stations. It also served as the Alturas depot of the NCO Railway, the principal means of public travel for the remote northeastern corner of the state from 1908 to 1938.","narrative":"Built in 1908 of locally quarried stone, this small railway depot in Alturas served the Nevada-California-Oregon Railway when the narrow gauge line reached the town as its northern terminus. Martin and Diamond, contractors from Reno, were the builders. The 1-1/2-story building has a shingled bellcast roof, a slanted operator's bay facing the tracks, and gable ends filled with bands of patterned shingles. In 1915 the station was taken apart, its stones numbered, and rebuilt eight blocks closer to downtown, keeping its orientation to the tracks. It operated as the passenger depot until service ended on January 1, 1938, then housed railroad crews before being vacated. The Alturas Garden Club acquired it in 1962 and uses it as a clubhouse, with rentals for meetings, weddings and receptions. Its stone construction and late Queen Anne styling are unusual for California railroad architecture, and its historic character remains strong. Freight trains still use the adjacent tracks.","period_of_significance":"1900- (specific dates 1908, 1915)","architect_builder":"Martin and Diamond, Contractors","architectural_style":"Late Queen Anne","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in good condition; used as the clubhouse for the Alturas Garden Club and for community gatherings.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:28.32245-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/85000357.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85000357/d610e3d628-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85000357/d610e3d628-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Ian Poellet","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NCO_Depot_platform_side_-_Alturas_California.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ian Poellet</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NCO_Depot_platform_side_-_Alturas_California.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859873","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alturas_station_(Nevada%E2%80%93California%E2%80%93Oregon_Railway)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q29641915"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/modoc-county/nco-railway-depot-85000357/"}