Southern Pacific Railroad Passenger Station
Why it's listed
Southern Pacific's passenger station on East Commerce Street in San Antonio opened in 1902 and is an example of Mission Style railroad architecture. Built of brick and adobe with white plaster walls, it has twin towers flanking the entrance, red tile roofs, and a parapet modeled on the Alamo. Baroque relief sculpture around the tower windows echoes the rose window at San Jose Mission. Inside, the waiting room sits under a barrel vault 40 feet high, with a balcony, a divided stairway, a coffered ceiling and a skylight. A platform about 1,200 feet long was designed for 16-car trains, and a Railway Express Agency building stands to the south. The station replaced an earlier depot from 1877, when the first railroad reached the city. It handled the Sunset Limited, daily after 1902 until Amtrak took over in 1971. The station and its outbuildings are noted as unaltered since construction.
Significance in brief: The station is described as one of the finest examples of Mission Style applied to railroad architecture in Texas, noted for its craftsmanship and detailing and its reflection of turn-of-the-century Southwestern tastes. It is also significant because neither the station nor its outbuildings have been altered since 1902. It served Southern Pacific trains such as the Sunset Limited.
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 75001955, listed May 29, 1975. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 1174 E. Commerce St., San Antonio |
|---|---|
| County | Bexar County |
| Listed | May 29, 1975 |
| Reference number | 75001955 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1902 |
| Architectural style | Mission Style |
| Areas of significance | Transportation, Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | At the time of nomination the station served one Amtrak passenger train, the Sunset, three times a week. Its offices housed Southern Pacific's San Antonio freight operation headquarters. The facilities were well maintained, with tentative plans for an intermodal urban transportation center. |
| Acreage | 3 |
| Within district | Southern Pacific Depot Historic District |
| Coordinates | 29.42028, -98.47816 (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 75001955.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7413360
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.