Chico station is an intercity rail station in the

South Campus Neighborhood The South Campus Historic District is a Historic districts in the United States, historic district in Chico, California which was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 through efforts of the Chico Heritage Association. The dis ...

Chico, California Chico ( ; Spanish for "little") is the most populous city in Butte County, California. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 101,475 in the 2020 census, reflecting an increase from 86,18 ...

. It is served by the single daily round trip of the

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

Coast Starlight The ''Coast Starlight'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States between Seattle and Los Angeles via Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area. The train, which has operated continuously since Amtrak's formati ...

'' service. The station building was constructed by the

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

in 1892; it was listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2014. The

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurge ...

bus station is located adjacent to the Amtrak station.

History

The station was built by the

in 1892, replacing an older structure built in 1870. The station was shown in the 1947 film ''

Magic Town ''Magic Town'' is a 1947 comedy film directed by William A. Wellman and starring James Stewart and Jane Wyman. The picture is one of the first films about the then-new practice of public opinion polling. The film was inspired by the Middletown s ...

'' when

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...

's character arrives in the fictional town of Grandview. During his 1952 Vice Presidential campaign,

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

was talking on the pay phone at the station when he got the news from the campaign headquarters that he would have to respond to the Checkers issue with the '

Checkers speech The Checkers speech or Fund speech was an address made on September 23, 1952, by Senator Richard Nixon ( R- CA), six weeks before the 1952 United States presidential election, in which he was the Republican nominee for Vice President. Nixon had ...

'. Passenger rail service to Chico ceased in 1957, but was reactivated when Amtrak rerouted the ''Coast Starlight'' to its current alignment in 1982. The city and the Chamber of Commerce saved the current structure from demolition through an agreement with the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1987. That same year, the depot was listed in the

as the Southern Pacific Depot. . The building is also home to the Chico Art Center. While the Butte County Association of Governments has looked in to establishment of weekday bus service from Chico to

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, their plan called for the bus to depart not from the station but rather a park and ride facility on Fir Street. A different North State Intercity Bus route received TIRCP funding in 2018 and will provide weekday feeder service to Sacramento from the Chico station.http://www.dot.ca.gov/drmt/docs/sptircp/2018_awardlist.pdf

References

External links

Chico Amtrak Station (USA RailGuide -- TrainWeb)
{{National Register of Historic Places in California Amtrak stations in California Former Southern Pacific Railroad stations in California Railway stations in Butte County, California Buildings and structures in Chico, California Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in California Carpenter Gothic architecture in California Railway stations in the United States opened in 1870 National Register of Historic Places in Butte County, California Railway stations closed in 1957 Railway stations in the United States opened in 1982

History

See also

References

External links