Atherton Train Station Museum Ribbon Cutting
About
All Aboard! Atherton’s Train Station Begins a New Journey For more than 150 years, the Atherton train station has been an important part of the community and the Peninsula’s history. Originally known as Fair Oaks, Atherton’s first station began as a simple flag stop on the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad, a railroad built largely by Chinese laborers. As the community grew, so did the station. What started as a modest wood-framed structure with a terra cotta roof eventually became a unique four-sided glass station, one of the few fully glass-enclosed railroad stations of its time. By the 1950s, the station had expanded into the enclosed depot generations of commuters came to know and love.Over the years, the station was there for some of the Peninsula’s most important moments. It witnessed the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, when trains helped evacuate thousands of refugees, as well as two world wars and the transition from steam-powered locomotives to diesel engines. The station also became part of everyday life for generations of residents as the Peninsula’s commuter network grew, connecting communities to San Francisco and, later, Silicon Valley.After decades of service, changing travel patterns and declining ridership eventually led Caltrain to formally close the station in 2020. Rather than let this important piece of Atherton history disappear, the Town chose to preserve and restore the historic site.Today, the station is beginning a new chapter as the Atherton Train
