Powell home in Newhall, sometime between 1889 and 1896.
This house on Main Street (Railroad Avenue) in Newhall, near Market Street, was erected
in 1878 by Judge John F. Powell, reportedly on a plot given to him by the development
company that was laying out the town of Newhall.
J.F. Powell had been named justice of the peace for Soledad Township (Santa Clarita
Valley) in 1875 and lived here with his family until they moved away in about 1889.
Evidently he left the home in the care of his brother, M.A. (Mike) Powell, who ran
the Palace Saloon down the street.
J.F. Powell returned to Newhall around 1896 (he was reelected justice in 1900)
and evidently took back the house, because it was around this time that
J.F.'s wife, Dora (?), took in boarders
and operated this home as a rooming house known as the Powell Hotel.
The woman in this photograph is identified in a clear hand as "Cora" —
which is curious, because J.F.'s wife Dora had a sister named Flora (who was married
to Alex Mentry). The caption, written by one of Mike Powell's children when the
Mike Powell family lived there, reads:
M.A. Powell house, Newhall / Aunt Cora in picture. House where we lived
from 1889 until 1896.
