Barstow Historic Harvey House

The Harvey House Railroad Depot, known as the Casa del Desierto – its original name, is a former Fred Harvey Harvey House located in Barstow, in the Mojave Desert within San Bernardino County, California. Casa del Desierto now functions as an unstaffed Amtrak passenger station as well as housing Barstow city offices and two museums. The Casa del Desierto station and hotel was built by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and replaced an earlier one built in 1885 that burned in 1908. It was designed by renowned Fred Harvey Company architect Mary Colter in a synthesis of Spanish Renaissance and Classical Revival architecture styles. The historic structure is an elegant presence in the arising from the Mojave Desert beside the seasonal Mojave River. The station was closed by the Santa Fe in 1973. However in 1975 Casa del Desierto was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The City of Barstow obtained the station in 1990 and moved several city offices into the building. The Barstow Area Chamber of Commerce operates out of “Barstow Harvey House”. Other public institutions located here are the “Western America Railroad Museum” on the east side, and the “Barstow Route 66 “Mother Road” Museum on the north side.