In 1890, “Lucky” Baldwin gave the Santa Fe Railroad the right-of-way on his property on the condition that in addition to the Arcadia Depot that Santa Fe build a second depot near the entrance to Rancho Santa Anita and that the trains would always stop for any of his guests who wanted to board. For the next fifty years the Santa Anita Depot served residents of the area. As many as six trains a day stopped by the Depot in route to Los Angeles. In the early 1960’s, when it was announced that a freeway would be built paralleling Colorado Boulevard and the Depot would be torn down, the Arcadia Historical Society with the support of the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce helped form a group known as “Save the Depot,” who raised more than $30,000. February 19, 1969 marked the ground-breaking ceremonies and piece-by-piece, the Depot was dismantled and re-constructed at its present site on the Arboretum grounds and can be easily seen from Baldwin Avenue.
