Pacific Electric Sub-Station No. 14
Pacific Electric Sub-Station No. 14 is a former power substation in Santa Ana, California. Built in 1907 by the Pacific Electric Railway, it provided electricity to run the streetcars in central Orange County. The brick, single-story building housed equipment that turned high-voltage AC power from a distant power plant into the 600-volt DC power used by the trains.
Inside was a large rotary converter that did the voltage conversion, with a transformer to drop the voltage before conversion. The 600-volt DC power powered the Watts–Santa Ana Line, the Santa Ana–Orange Line, and the Santa Ana–Huntington Beach Line, operating from 1907 until passenger service ended in 1950. It is the last remaining Pacific Electric substation building in Orange County and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The building was partially restored in 2020, including a roof replacement and interior work.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 03:08 (CET).