Kelso is a ghost town and defunct railroad depot in the Mojave National Preserve in San Bernardino County, California, USA.

The town was built in 1905 specifically as a railroad station along the rail line between Utah and Los Angeles, originally called "Siding 16," because of its location and nearby springs that provided abundant water.

Historic Spots in California states, "At Kelso stands a beautiful Spanish-style Union Pacific Depot built about 1906, surrounded by shade trees, a welcome rarity in the hot, barren desert.

"[2] Starting off as what was a simple train depot in the 1920s, the town of Kelso boomed briefly to as many as 2,000 residents in the 1940s, when borax and iron mines opened nearby.

The distance between Las Vegas and the connection with the Santa Fe line at Daggett was too far for trains without a meal car, so Kelso was a convenient spot for a restaurant stop.