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.