SCV Chronology: A Timetable of Historical Events.

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SCV Chronology.
A Timeline of Historical Events.
By LEON WORDEN.

c. 18,000 YEARS AGO

Man arrives in the Santa Clarita Valley.
c. 5,000 YEARS AGO

Chumash living in the Santa Clarita Valley.
c. AD 450-500

Tataviam Indians arrive in the Santa Clarita Valley.
c. 1510 to 1602

Spain sends explorers to California.
c. 1727

Explorer Gaspar de Portolá born in Catalonia, Spain.
1769

July 16: Gaspar de Portolá and Father Junípero Serra establish Mission San Diego.
August 8: Portolá expedition crosses Newhall Pass at Elsmere Canyon, camps at Chaguayabit (Castaic Junction).
August 10: Father Juan Crespí names Santa Clara River for St. Clare.
1772

March 6: Captain Pedro Fages arrives from San Diego; camps at Agua Dulce, Castaic, Lake Elizabeth, Lebec and Tejon.
1776

May 10: Father Francisco Hermanegeldo Garces follows the Portolá trail to Rancheria del Corral (Castaic Junction).
1784

Father Junípero Serra dies; succeeded by Father Fermin Lasuen.
1788

Antonio Seferino del Valle born in Composilla, Mexico.
1797

September 8: Father Fermin Lasuen dedicates Mission San Fernando Rey de España.
1802

March 9: Gold discoverer Francisco Lopez born at Mission San Gabriel.
1804

December 3 (?): Estancia de San Francisco Xavier founded at Castaic Junction (contrary to popular rumor, never raised to asistencia status).
1808

July 1: Ignacio del Valle, son of Antonio, born in Jalisco, Mexico.
1813

Bar placed across Newhall Pass in Elsmere Canyon to keep cattle from wandering away from the estancia.
1821

March 26: California becomes a territory of Mexico in the war between Mexico and Spain.
1822

February 4: Surveyor Edward F. Beale born in Washington, DC.
April 11: Monterey falls to Augustin Iturbide; reign lasts less than one year.
1824

Indians at Santa Ynez revolt against Mexican rule.
1825

May 13: Henry Mayo Newhall born in Saugus, Massachusetts.
July 27: Ignacio del Valle arrives at Monterey.
1827

December 24: Colonel Thomas F. Mitchell born in Tennessee.
1831

November 20: Sanford and Cyrus Lyon born in Machias, Maine.
1833

August: Mexican Congress secularizes former mission lands.
October 12: Lawman William W. Jenkins born in Circleville, Ohio.
1834

October: Mexican Lieutenant Antonio del Valle arrives at Mission San Fernando to dismantle church holdings.
1835

August 11: Outlaw Tiburcio Vasquez born in Monterey.
1837

October 17: Peter LaBeck killed by grizzly bear at El Tejon.
1839

January 22: Governor Juan B. Alvarado grants Rancho San Francisco to Antonio del Valle.
December 17: Judge John F. Powell born in Galway, Ireland.
1841

June 21: Antonio del Valle dies.
1842

January 1: Ignacio del Valle marries Maria Carrillo, claims Rancho Camulos.
March 9: Francisco Lopez makes the first documented discovery of gold in California, in Placerita Canyon.
May 3: State's first mining district established at Rancho San Francisco; Ignacio del Valle, chairman.
June 9: Rancho Temescal granted to Francisco Lopez.
1843

October 2: Rancho Los Alamos granted to Francisco Lopez.
November 22: Rancho Castac (Castaic) granted to Jose Covarabias [spelling per deed].
1845

August 25: Rancho del Buque granted to Francisco Chari.
1846

Oil driller Charles Alexander Mentry (Mentrier) born in France.
May 13: Mexican-American War declared by U.S. Congress.
July 7: U.S. troops land at Monterey, hoist U.S. flag.
1847

January 9-10: Colonel John C. Fremont and troops camp at Rancho San Francisco.
January 12: Colonel John C. Fremont and troops pass through Fremont's Pass.
January 13: General Andres Pico surrenders to Colonel John C. Fremont in the Capitulation of Cahuenga.
1848

January 24: James Marshall discovers gold at Sutter's Mill.
February 2: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends Mexican-American War; California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas become U.S. possessions.
November 18: John Woodhouse Audubon camps at Castaic Junction.
1849

March: Bennett-Arcane party leaves Wisconsin in search of gold.
August 15: Eight-pound gold nugget found in Santa Feliciana Canyon.
September 1: Constitutional Convention held at Monterey.
October 7: Jayhawker party encounters Bennett-Arcane party.
November 4: William Manly and John Rogers set out from Death Valley to find help for the stranded Bennett-Arcane party.
1850

January 1: William Manley and John Rogers arrive at the Del Valles' estancia, find help for the Bennett-Arcane party.
September 9: California admitted to the Union as the thirty-first state.
1851

June 8: Prohibitionist Henry Clay Needham born in Percival Mills, Hardin County, Kentucky.
1852

Henry C. Wiley establishes Wiley's Station; partner is Ignacio del Valle.
Edward F. Beale appointed superintendent of Indian Affairs, later surveyor-general of California and Nevada.
September: Ignacio del Valle files petition for Rancho San Francisco.
1853

Los Angeles mayor Ignacio del Valle forms the California Rangers, led by Horace Bell, William Jenkins, William Reader and Cyrus Lyon.
Lieutenant R.S. Williamson surveys Santa Clarita Valley for Southern Pacific Railroad.
August 24: Rancho San Francisco willed to Ignacio del Valle.
1854

Moore's Station established in San Francisquito Canyon.
July: Gold discovered on the Kern River.
August 10: Fort Tejon established atop Grapevine Pass.
December 5: General Phineas Banning drives first stagecoach through thirty-foot-deep cut at Fremont's Pass.
1855

California Rangers disband.
General Andres Pico begins harvesting asphaltum from Pico Canyon.
August 8: Surveyor-General Edward F. Beale purchases Rancho La Liebre, then Castaic, Los Alamos, Agua Caliente and El Tejon.
September 24: Sanford and Cyrus Lyon purchase Wiley's Station.
1856

May 13: Colonel David D. Porter arrives in Texas with camels bound for Fort Tejon.
1857

January 9, 8:13 a.m.: Major earthquake centered at Fort Tejon.
1858

January 27: Then-Colonel Edward F. Beale drives camels through Los Angeles.
October 7: Butterfield Overland Stage rides into Los Angeles.
October 8: Butterfield Overland Stage rides through Fremont's Pass and San Francisquito Canyon.
1859

August 27: Oil industry born in Titusville, Pennsylvania.
1860

May 24: Colonel Thomas F. Mitchell arrives in Soledad Canyon.
1861

U.S. Army Camel Corps discontinued.
Ignacio del Valle takes up permanent residence at Rancho Camulos, expands hacienda.
James O'Reilly starts mining in Soledad Canyon.
1861-1865

Civil War
1862

Three-year drought begins, ruining cattle industry.
1862-1863

General Andres Pico improves road through Fremont's Pass
1863

September 19: General Edward F. Beale's troops begin cutting through Fremont's Pass; A.A. Hudson and Oliver P. Robbins erect toll house.
1864

Private James Gorman establishes community of Gorman.
Benjamin Silliman publishes "Rivers of Oil".
September 11: Fort Tejon abandoned.
December 6: Actor William S. Hart born in Newburgh, New York.
1865

April 29: Rancho San Francisco deeded to Thomas Bard, agent for Thomas A. Scott's Philadelphia and California Petroleum Company.
June 24: San Fernando Petroleum Mining District formed by Edward F. Beale, Andres Pico, Vincent Gelcich and others, who then form the first Star Oil Company.
1868

June 12: Soledad post office established at Ravenna.
1869

January 8: Sanford Lyon, Henry Wiley and William Jenkins begin drilling the first oil well in Pico Canyon.
1871

Outlaw Tiburcio Vasquez establishes hideout at Vasquez Rocks.
Spring: John Lang arrives in Soledad Canyon.
August 12: Elizabeth Lake School District established.
1872

September 16: Sulphur Springs School District established by Mitchells and Langs.
1873

July 7: John Lang kills a record 2,350-pound grizzly bear in Soledad Canyon.
October 15: Soledad Judicial District formed; J.H. Turner elected Justice of the Peace.
October 20: Charles Fernald and J.T. Richards purchase Rancho San Francisco in a sheriff's sale.
November: Oil driller Charles Alexander Mentry arrives in San Francisco.
1874

April 8: Oil refining operation established at Lyon's Station.
May 14: Outlaw Tiburcio Vasquez captured in Hollywood Hills.
1875

January 15: Henry Mayo Newhall purchases Rancho San Francisco in a sheriff's sale.
March 19, 1:35 p.m.: Outlaw Tiburcio Vasquez hanged in San Jose.
March 22: Construction begins on San Fernando Railroad Tunnel.
May 8: John F. Powell becomes Justice of the Peace.
August 14: Charles Alexander Mentry begins drilling for oil in Pico Canyon.
November 25: Outlaw Cleovaro Chavez killed by bounty hunters in Arizona Territory.
1876

July 4: John A. Scott displays Placerita Canyon "white oil" at Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia.
July 8: Demetrius G. Scofield forms California Star Oil Works, hires driller Charles Alexander Mentry.
July 14: Construction completed on 6,940-foot long San Fernando Tunnel.
July 27: Construction completed on Soledad Canyon railroad tunnel.
August 1: Pioneer Oil Refinery established at Andrew's Station.
August 12: First train through San Fernando Tunnel into Newhall.
September 5: Southern Pacific president Charles Crocker drives "golden spike" at Lang Station, linking Los Angeles with San Francisco.
September 6: Newhall Train Station opens at Bouquet Junction (moves in 1878).
September 26: Pico (CSO) Number 4 erupts, becomes first commercially productive oil well in the American West.
October 13: Town of Newhall founded at Bouquet Junction.
1877

January 16: Newhall post office established; George Campton, postmaster.
1878

Newhall school children taught in a bunk house on the Lyon Ranch.
John Howe appointed first constable of the Soledad Judicial District (followed by Joseph Leighton).
William W. Jenkins settles at the Lazy Z Ranch in Castaic, initiates range war.
January 15: Town of Newhall begins its move from Bouquet Junction to the present townsite.
February 16: Town of Newhall completes its move from Bouquet Junction to the present townsite.
August 24: Post office established at Lake Hughes.
1879

September 10: Demetrius G. Scofield incorporates Pacific Coast Oil Company, forerunner of Standard Oil Company of California.
September 17: Newhall School erected.
1880

March 30: Ignacio del Valle dies.
1881

"Little White School" erected in Acton.
1882

Pacific Coast Oil Company builds warehouse and office north of the Newhall Train Station.
January 23: Helen Hunt Jackson arrives at Rancho Camulos, interviews Blanca Yndart for "Ramona".
March 13: Henry Mayo Newhall dies in the city of San Francisco following a riding accident at Rancho San Francisco (SCV).
1883

June 1: Heirs of Henry Mayo Newhall incorporate The Newhall Land and Farming Company.
1884

May 2: Brothers McCoy and Everette Pyle discover Tataviam Indian artifacts in Bowers Cave.
1885

October: Felton School District established in Mentryville.
1886

Sulphur Springs School erected.
1887

Joshua O. Newhall, nephew to Henry, builds the Southern Hotel in Newhall [Date from first-hand contemporary 1889 reference].
September 1: Town of Saugus founded, Saugus Train Station dedicated.
September 1: Castaic Train Station dedicated.
October 11: R.E. Nickel, "Father of Acton," arrives from Kansas.
October 23: Southern Hotel in Newhall burns to the ground, same year it opened [ibid.]
December 3: Lyon's Station purchased by Prohibitionist Henry Clay Needham and others; new owners establish St. John Subdivision.
1888

Pioneer Oil Refinery closed.
January 24: Acton post office established; R.E. Nickel, postmaster.
June 17: Reverend F.W. Pattee forms the Acton Community Church; services in the Little White School.
1889

March 25: Castaic School District established.
1890

Newhall School burns to the ground for the first time.
Soledad School erected in Acton.
Wallace Hardison and Lyman Stewart found Union Oil Company in Santa Paula.
December 5: San Francisquito Canyon ranch granted to Frank LeBrun.
1891

April 25: President Benjamin Harrison stops at the Saugus Train Station.
May 31: Reverend F.D. Seward forms the First Presbyterian Church in Newhall.
July 15: R.E. Nickel founds the "Acton Rooster".
August 5: Surrey post office established at Saugus.
November 2: R.E. Nickel founds Acton Water Works.
1892

December 20: San Gabriel Forest Reserve (Angeles National Forest) established.
1893

Constable Ed Pardee purchases Good Templars Lodge, moves it to Walnut and Market streets
April 4: Major earthquake centered in Pico Canyon.
1898

Spanish-American War.
Construction of the "Big House" in Mentryville completed
1899

January 5: Acton gold mine owner Henry T. Gage becomes governor of California.
January 18: Martin and Richard Wood purchase Tolefree's Eating House and change its name to the Saugus Cafe.
1900

July 12: The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Co. establishes the Newhall telephone exchange. SCV gets its first telephone. The second was installed in 1911.
October 4: Oil driller Charles Alexander Mentry dies from liver failure following an insect bite.
December 13: Automobile Club of Southern California founded.
1903

May 4: President Theodore Roosevelt stops at the Saugus Train Station, Saugus Cafe and Acton Hotel.
1905

Saugus Cafe moves out of the Saugus Train Station and across the street.
1906

April 25: Bercaw General Store opens in Surrey (Saugus).
October 4: Standard Oil Company of California formed, Demetrius G. Scofield, president.
1907

Saugus School erected.
1910

Horseshoe Ranch house built (later owned by William S. Hart).
1913

November 5: Engineer William Mulholland opens the Owens River aqueduct.
1914

Newhall School burns to the ground for the second time.
Albert Swall establishes the Swall Hotel on Spruce Street; other businesses follow his lead.
January 20: "Signal" editor Scott Newhall born in San Francisco.
July 5: Rev. Wolcott H. Evans named pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Newhall.
1915

January 17: First Catholic parish mission church dedicated in Newhall.
June 15: Construction begins on the Ridge Route.
July 1: Town of Castaic founded.
October 12: Name of Surrey post office changed to "Saugus".
1916

Lawman William W. Jenkins shot (but not killed) in a fight with Billy Rose.
March 1: Newhall County Library established inside Robert F. and Christine Woodard's ice cream parlor; Christine Woodard, custodian (librarian), salary: $5 per year. Library later moves to Hardison and Stewart building, then the Swall Hotel.
1917

April 3: Castaic post office established inside Sam Parson's general store.
1919

February 7: Edward H. Brown founds "The Newhall Signal".
1921

February 5: William S. Hart purchases the Horseshoe Ranch in Newhall from Babcock Smith.
June 30: Juan José Fustero dies at Rancho Camulos.
1923

Newhall County Library moves into its own small building.
January 8: Port C. Miller becomes Justice of the Peace.
February 21: Newhall Chamber of Commerce Organized. Albert Swall elected president.
June 1: Construction begins on new First Presbyterian Church in Newhall.
1924

Ex-Governor and gold mine owner Henry T. Gage dies.
August 10: Reginaldo del Valle sells Rancho Camulos.
1925

March 9: A.B. Perkins becomes Justice of the Peace.
June 14: Rebuilt First Presbyterian Church dedicated in Newhall.
December 17: Jenks Harris robs Piru bank of $11,000.
December 29: Retired Judge John F. Powell dies at home in Newhall.
1926

March 1: The first Owens Valley water arrives at the St. Francis Dam.
June 1: Dr. Peters opens offices which become the Newhall Community Hospital.
August 26: Sheriff's Substation No. 6 dedicated in Newhall.
1927

Actor William S. Hart occupies his new Spanish-style mansion, La Loma de los Vientos, at the Horseshoe Ranch in Newhall.
May 1: First major competition at new Baker Ranch Rodeo (later Saugus Speedway). Overflow crowd more than fills 18,000-seat arena.
1928

Newhall School moves from Newhall Avenue and Lyons to Eleventh and Walnut Streets.
March 12, 11:57 p.m.: St. Francis Dam breaks, killing more than 450 in California's second-worst recorded disaster.
1929

November 10: Great Saugus Train Robbery by "Buffalo" Tom Vernon.
1930

The refinery on Pine Street, used from 1876-88, is restored by Standard Oil Co. and rechristened the "Pioneer Oil Refinery."
Roy Baker sells his rodeo arena in Saugus to actor Hoot Gibson; it would later become the Saugus Speedway.
1932

Felton School District in Mentryville disbanded.
July 4: First annual Fourth of July Parade in Newhall.
October 29: Highway 99 completed through Weldon Canyon, bypassing Ridge Route.
1933

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power completes the Bouquet Reservoir, replacing the St. Francis Dam.
August 27: Atholl McBean elected president of The Newhall Land and Farming Company.
1936

February 21: Prohibitionist Henry Clay Needham dies in Newhall.
1938

July 28: Newhall Tunnel cut away, replaced by Sierra Highway.
1939

Auto racing starts at Bonelli Stadium in Saugus (later Saugus Speedway).
February 14: Newhall School burns to the ground for the third time.
1940

Santa Clarita Valley's population reaches 4,000.
1941

May 23: SCV's first real movie house, the American Theater, dedicated in Newhall.
1945

October 19, shortly after 9 p.m.: Acton Hotel burns to the ground.
1946

June 23: William S. Hart dies, leaving his estate to the County of Los Angeles.
September 8: William S. Hart High School dedicated.
1947

Bill Bonelli's "Rancho Santa Clarita" in Saugus is SCV's first modern, postwar tract housing, and first official use of the "Santa Clarita" name.
August 16: Newhall Hardware opens on Spruce Street.
1952

Two oil wells come in on the same day at the Jenkins' Lazy Z Ranch in Castaic, making national headlines.
Actor Gene Autry buys Ernie Hickson's Western movie town in Placerita Canyon, renames it "Melody Ranch."
1954

August: County of Los Angeles changes "Spruce Street" (Newhall's main street) to "San Fernando Road."
1955

September 30: Actor James Dean, 24, eats his last meal (pie and milk) at Tip's Restaurant at Castaic Junction, hours before his fatal car crash.
1957

Manmade Piru lake and dam are completed.
November 18: Newhall County Library dedicated on Ninth Street.
1962

April 16: Buffalo herd arrives at William S. Hart Park — donated by Walt Disney from Golden Oak Ranch in Placerita Canyon.
August 28: Gene Autry's Melody Ranch burns to the ground as fire consumes most of the hills surrounding the Santa Clarita Valley.
1963

Sunday Swap Meet starts at Saugus Speedway.
November 1: Community of Canyon Country founded; first Frontier Days celebration.
1965

October 1: Santa Clarita National Bank opens.
1967

August 20: Community of Valencia dedicated by The Newhall Land & Farming Co.; tract homes sell for $25,000.
1969

September 22: College of the Canyons founded.
1970

April 5: The Newhall Incident: Slaying of four California Highway Patrol officers — Walter Frago, Roger Gore, James Pence and George Alleyn — in the J's Coffee Shop parking lot at today's Magic Mountain Parkway and The Old Road.
1971

Southern Pacific Railroad tears down Lang Station.
California Institute of the Arts is incorporated by Walt Disney; school moves to Valencia.
February 9, 5:59 a.m.: 6.5 magnitude Sylmar earthquake (actually centered in Iron Canyon section of Sand Canyon).
May 29: Magic Mountain opens.
June 3: Castaic Lake opens.
1972

Castaic Reservoir (Lake) and dam completed.
October 2: Name "Santa Clarita Valley" becomes official.
1974

August 24: Pyramid Lake opens.
1975

August 3: Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital founded.
December 12: Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society founded.
1976

March 7: Groundbreaking for new First Presbyterian Church in Newhall (former structure destroyed in 1971 earthquake).
September 5: Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society marks "golden spike" centennial with State Landmark dedication at Lang Station.
November 2: First Canyon County formation attempt defeated at the polls.
1977

February 6: New First Presbyterian Church dedicated in Newhall.
September 26: Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society and Newhall Woman's Club dedicate Mentryville and Pico (CSO) Number 4 as State Landmarks.
1978

May 21: St. Francis Dam site becomes a State Landmark.
November 7: Second Canyon County formation attempt defeated at the polls.
1980

June 24: Saugus Train Station relocated to Heritage Junction.
1981

December 12: Restored Saugus Train Station dedicated.
1982

April 22: Gene Autry's Mogul 1629 steam locomotive relocated to Heritage Junction.
1986

August 14: Mitchell adobe saved from demolition.
1987

April 11: Ramona Chapel and Red Schoolhouse relocated to Heritage Junction.
July 17: Kingsburry House relocated to Heritage Junction.
November 3: City of Santa Clarita formation approved at the polls.
December 15: City of Santa Clarita incorporated.
1988

September 11: Scott and Ruth Newhall publish the first "Santa Clarita Valley Citizen" newspaper.
Community of Stevenson Ranch established.
1989

January 19: Edison House relocated to Heritage Junction
January 27: Santa Clarita post office established.
May 3: The "Santa Clarita Valley Citizen" folds.
November 5: Mitchell Schoolhouse Adobe dedicated at Heritage Junction.
1990

August 14: Newhall Ranch House relocated to Heritage Junction.
September: Pico (CSO) Number 4 capped off after 114 years of oil production.
1992

August 4: Pardee House (former Good Templars Lodge) relocated to Heritage Junction.
September: Valencia Town Center Mall opens.
1994

January 17, 4:31 a.m.: 6.7-magnitude Northridge Earthquake, centered in Canoga Park, kills 53 and causes $11 billion in damage across Southern California. Several homes in SCV are severely damaged and/or destroyed.
1995

July 1: Unification of Santa Clarita Valley and Canyon Country chambers of commerce.
July 4: First publication of the "Old Town Newhall Gazette".
1996

February 26: Historian Jerry Reynolds dies at age 58.
June 11: Santa Clarita City Council approves downtown Newhall revitalization strategy.
1997

July 8: Santa Clarita City Council adopts Newhall Redevelopment Plan.
2003

November 24: Ruth Newhall, former co-owner of The Signal (with husband Scott), dies in Berkeley, Calif.
December 10: Saugus plastics manufacturer Keysor-Century Corp. files liquidation plan with bankruptcy court after ceasing operations in the wake of a federal investigation.
2004

January 27, 4 p.m. PST: Sale of The Newhall Land and Farming Co. to NWHL Inc., a joint venture of Lennar Corp. and LNR Properties Corp., is completed.
2007

July: Santa Clarita property owners approve a 30-year Open Space Preservation District. City to use property tax assessment through FY 2036-37 to purchase and preserve raw land outside city's borders.
Summer: City of Santa Clarita reconfigures San Fernando Road in downtown Newhall and changes its name to "Main Street" between Lyons Avenue and 5th Street.
October 21-22: "Buckweed" fire, ignited by a 10-year-old boy playing with matches, burns 38,000 acres and destroys 21 homes in Canyon Country and Agua Dulce.
2008

Jan. 22: Santa Clarita City Council votes to change the name of San Fernando Road to "Newhall Avenue" between 5th Street and Highway 14.
Jan. 25: Newhall Hardware, est. 1947, citing economic problems, announces it will quit as soon as it can liquidate inventory.

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