In 1870, Southern Pacific Railroad assumed ownership of the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad, which had originally opened as an independent railroad in 1863. The second stop south of San Francisco, in what was then the center of the larger Northern San Mateo County area historically known as Colma, was called Schoolhouse Stop. The station took its name from the nearby one-room schoolhouse on San Pedro Road, the most recognizable landmark in the rural landscape at the time. Schoolhouse Stop was one of twenty-one stops built between San Francisco and San Jose. In 1863-65, Southern Pacific constructed a passenger depot adjacent to Schoolhouse Stop to shelter passengers. The station was where farmers and teamsters stopped en route to San Francisco.