Burlingame's Historical Heart

The iconic Burlingame train station is a city landmark, recognizable to almost anyone who has spent time around town. Situated at the end of Burlingame Avenue, its centrality in downtown signifies the importance the station has held throughout Burlingame history.

Burlingame was initially founded by people seeking refuge from the foggy, cooler climate of San Francisco. The new suburbanites created a country club in 1893 for hunting, polo and various other sports, said Burlingame Historical Society President, Jennifer Pfaff.

 The members funded the train station's creation in 1894 as a means of bringing people to the club. Just a few blocks from the club, the new station took the place of the Oak Grove stop.

Architects George Howard and Joachim B. Mathisen are responsible for the mission-revival building, which greatly differed in style from other Southern Pacific Railroad Company stations.

"It is not the typical Southern Pacific Design," Pfaff said. "It was the first permanent mission-revival style building in the state."

To make the style authentic, the architects reused 100-year-old tiles from former missions in San Mateo and Monterey County. It also included living quarters for the stationmaster and his family.

By 1903, electric street cars were also frequenting the station. As more people moved to Burlingame, the station quickly became the center of town. In fact, Pfaff said, the station was partially responsible for populating Burlingame in the first place.

"As soon as people would get off the train…there were real estate offices," Pfaff said of the realtors in small shacks selling spots in Burlingame's first subdivision. "They'd step off and they'd be able to see what was available."

Burlingame's first stores soon opened nearby, and Burlingame Square became the town center. The original plan for the area was a circle, as depicted in an 1893 San Francisco Chronicle article. However, somewhere along the way the plan was changed to a square, and the name Burlingame Square is still imprinted in the sidewalks surrounding the station.

Besides its use as a passenger thoroughfare, the train station acted as the first public building in the city. It became the meeting place for the Burlingame Women's Club upon its organization in 1907. It also was home to a post office and church meetings.

"It was sort of a place where people could congregate," Pfaff said.

Because of its history and unusual architecture, Burlingame Station was added to both the California and national registers of historic locations in the mid 1970s.

Pfaff said the community's affinity for the station is apparent in the action it has taken to preserve it. It the 1950s, a proposal to destroy the station and allow Burlingame Avenue to go straight through town was struck down.

In the 1980s, the city collaborated with the state to finance a restoration of the station.

Today, 56 trains pass through Burlingame each weekday and 32 on weekends. The station is now home to the Burlingame Hillsborough History Museum, which dually celebrates the history of Burlingame and its train station.

"People have always rallied around it," Pfaff said. "It's really the heart of our town—it always was and it always will be."