Cloverdale Railroad Station
Why it's listed
Built in 1872 when rail service reached Cloverdale, this railroad station sits where Railroad Avenue meets the Northwestern Pacific tracks. It is a one-story frame building about 82 feet long and 32 feet wide, with redwood board-and-batten walls, a peaked roof now covered in corrugated metal, and very wide eaves held up by paired redwood buttresses. Inside, a freight warehouse with a built-in Fairbanks scale occupies half the structure, while the other half holds the agent's office, with its long original counter, a caboose-style bay window for watching the tracks, and the former passenger waiting room. The nomination calls it one of the few board-and-batten depots left in California. It also stresses the station's role in shipping wine grapes, lumber, wool, prunes, tan bark and hops, in carrying mail and telegraph messages, and in moving passengers to Russian River resorts, stage lines and the Geysers.
Significance in brief: The nomination presents it as one of the few remaining vertical board-and-batten depots in California and a surviving example of the rural railroad station. It argues the station was the community's communication hub and the shipping point for local wine, lumber, wool, prunes, tan bark, hops and mineral waters. It was also the passenger gateway to Russian River resorts and the Geysers.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 76000536, listed December 12, 1976. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Railroad Ave., Cloverdale |
|---|---|
| County | Sonoma County |
| Listed | December 12, 1976 |
| Reference number | 76000536 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architectural style | Frame rural railroad station with board-and-batten siding, rectangular plan, gabled roof and wide overhanging eaves |
| Areas of significance | Commerce, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Windows are boarded for security; the passenger waiting room has been converted to storage and the building is described as largely unchanged apart from minor alterations. |
| Acreage | 0.2 |
| Coordinates | 38.80382, -123.01263 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 76000536.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.