A New Chapter: Goleta Depot, 1975-Present
| 1977 | Goleta Valley Historical Society announces it will be unable to continue with plans to save Goleta Depot, the community’s most visible landmark. |
| Vandals and looters attack the abandoned building during the late 1970s. | |
| 1979 | Goleta Beautiful initiates its own depot preservation effort. |
| 1980 | Goleta Beautiful creates Goleta Depot Committee. Core five members are Gary Coombs (chairman), George Adams, Eugene Allen, Raymond Baird, and Phyllis Olsen. |
| 1981 | Land-ownership suit by Kellogg heirs against Southern Pacific railroad is settled. Depot building is offered to Goleta Beautiful. |
| “Friends of Goleta Depot” established (May) amidst lengthy fund-raising campaign. “Depot Dispatch” newsletter issue #1 published (June 5). | |
| Building relocated to Lake Los Carneros County Park in dramatic day-night move (Nov. 18-19) | |
| 1982 | Fund-raising continues. Institute for American Research sponsors first spring fundraiser, the “Asphalt Regatta” (April 24). |
| Building is revitalized and reborn during year-long reconstruction and restoration. | |
| Goleta Depot is dedicated as Santa Barbara County Landmark No. 22 in formal re-opening ceremony (Oct. 10). | |
| Chamber of Commerce, Audubon Society, Institute for American Research become paying tenants. Waiting Room and Freight Office are first museum areas. | |
| 1983 | Depot and County lease are transferred to Institute for American Research (March). |
| Native Sons of Golden West designate building a landmark (Nov. 19). | |
| First “Depot Day” celebrated (Oct 9). | |
| 1984 | Goleta Depot’s waybill box recovered from Goleta Lemon Assn. |
| 1985 | Work on model-railroad exhibit commences with grant support from Alice Tweed Tuohy Foundation. |
| Standard-gauge mainline and house-track are laid in front of depot (Last-spike ceremony held Oct. 6). | |
| Plans for permanent 7.5-inch gauge miniature railroad around grounds grow out of popularity of rides on temporary track during third Depot Day (Oct. 20). | |
| 1986 | Museum acquires S.P. bay-window caboose No. 4023. |
| 1987 | Staff leads first elementary-school class field trip via Amtrak (April 23) to San Luis Obispo. |
| Museum’s one-third-mile miniature railroad is completed to celebrate Santa Barbara Rail Centennial. | |
| 1988 | Museum plays key role in inauguration of Amtrak’s San Diegan train service to Santa Barbara (June 26). |
| Museum receives first of many General Operating Support Grants from Institute of Museum Services. | |
| 1989 | Volunteers build handcar for rides at museum. |
| Museum acquires original Goleta Depot ticket box for Freight Office display. | |
| Earl and Rose Ann Hill establish Children’s Program Fund. | |
| Museum initiates annual participation in Summer Reading program of Santa Barbara Public Libraries. | |
| 1990 | Theater opens (Jan.; later named “Gandy Dancer Theater”). |
| Museum honored at White House awards ceremony (May 18). | |
| Shed for handcar and miniature-train storage is completed. | |
| 1991 | New name, “South Coast Railroad Museum at Goleta Depot” adopted (April 11). |
| First annual holiday-season “Toy Trains and Teddy Bears” exhibit is assembled. | |
| 1992 | Weekday miniature-train rides initiated (March). |
| Depot exterior repainted with over $20,000 in grant funds from Santa Barbara Foundation and County of Santa Barbara. | |
| 1993 | First “Easter Bunny Express” event held (April 10). |
| First “Holiday Train” event (Nov.-Dec.). Renamed “Candy Cane Train” in 1994. | |
| Miniature railroad is named “Goleta Short Line” (Dec. 15). | |
| 1994 | Santa Barbara Bank & Trust underwrites inaugural “Free Rides for Moms” event (May 7). |
| Planning commences for interpretive program aboard Amtrak’s Coast Starlight. | |
| 600 feet of track added to Goleta Short Line. | |
| 1995 | Goleta National Bank sponsors first “Free Rides for Dads” (June 18). |
| 1996 | Goleta Depot is featured in “Great American Railroad Stations” book by Janet Greenstein Potter. |
| Accessibility study of museum programs and facilities is funded by Alice Tweed Tuohy Foundation. | |
| 1997 | House track extended by 22 feet to allow repositioning of caboose. |
| Spring fundraiser becomes “Great Goleta Rail Race” (May 17). | |
| 1998 | Grounds ravaged, several trees lost in El Nino storms. |
| Coast Starlight Interpretive Program begins (May). | |
| Major improvements to museum grounds completed with grants from Santa Barbara Foundation, Wood-Claeyssens Foundation, Alice Tweed Tuohy Foundation and La Vista Foundation. | |
| Museum participates in Goleta Amtrak Station opening (Sept. 19). | |
| 1999 | Inaugural “March Madness” means free miniature-train rides throughout the month. |
| 2001 | Museum celebrates Goleta Depot’s 100th Anniversary. |
| 2002 | Goleta Depot is placed on the National Register of Historic Places (Jan. 18). |
| 2021 | Museum proudly celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Goleta Depot’s relocation to its current home, marking four decades of preserving this historic landmark. |
Chronology of Goleta Depot, Part 3: Goleta Depot: The Southern Pacific Years, 1901-1975