The platform is located on a portion of
Coast Line between the Ventura River and Ash Street that is under franchise from the City of Ventura. Having approved an official map in 1869, the town trustees approved the laying down of tracks on Front Street through the existing townsite. Approval was conditioned on
Southern Pacific Branch Railway building and maintaining a depot within the corporate limits. The original train station was located about a half mile east (towards
Oxnard) within the Eastern Addition to the town. Ventura Junction where the
Ventura and Ojai Valley Railroad Company branched off up along the
Ventura River is just west of the station. The rails reached the town of
Nordhoff in 1898 and the line was acquired by Southern Pacific Transportation Company in 1899. The
Ventura River Parkway Trail has been constructed within the abandoned railroad right-of-way. E.P. and Orpha Foster donated much of the land for
Seaside Park (home of the Ventura County Fair) adjacent to the station. They envisioned this broad flat area as a beautiful gateway to Ventura, where families could walk, picnic, and enjoy family outings. The large parking lot across Harbor Boulevard from the station is the former site of
Babe Ruth Field. The minor-league team games that played there from 1948 to 1955 were appreciated by the adjacent neighborhood called Tortilla Flats. This neighborhood was eliminated with the construction of the freeway but is remembered with a mural project in the Figueroa Street freeway underpass, at the east end of the station, that leads to the
Mission San Buenaventura Historic District and downtown. A
car carrier trailer leaving the fairgrounds with vintage
Porsche automobiles "high-centered" as it crossed the tracks near the station and became stranded in 2004. Although the police notified Union Pacific, there was just enough time to get the driver out of the truck cab that was pulling the car-carrier before the collision. A northbound freight train hit the center of the trailer scattering the vintage cars alongside the tracks.
Coastal access The station is on the Pacific Coast Bicycle Route and also serves as an access point for
California Coastal Trail. Figueroa Street leads down to beachfront Promenade Park and Surfers' Point at Seaside Park. The promenade is a walking/bike trail that leads down coast to
San Buenaventura State Beach after passing underneath the second oldest pier in California. Up coast the path leads to
Emma Wood State Beach and has been designated the
Omer Rains Bike Trail. Beachwalkers will find sand and cobble beaches while walking to these state parks. While crossing the
sand bar at the mouth of the
Ventura River may be possible, the bike route is an alternate route for walkers. == References ==