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

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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.
• January 21: "Pathfinder" John C. Fremont born in Savannah, Ga.

1820

• April 6: '49er diarist William Lewis Manly born in St. Albans, Vermont.

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.

1838

• August 31: Early Pico oilman & San Francisquito vintner Ramon Perea born.

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.
• January 28: Forty-niner William Robinson dies in Soledad Canyon from drinking too much cool water.
• 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.
• December 25: Acton gold mine owner and California Governor Henry Tifft Gage born in Geneva, New York.

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 11: St. Francis Dam builder William Mulholland born in Belfast, Ireland.
• 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.

1859

• December 2: Early Newhall resident Leonardo Cesena born in Spain or Italy.

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".
• January 11: Henry Mayo Newhall completes rail line between San Francisco and San Jose.
• 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.

1867

• January 18: Tiburcio Vasquez begins serving 4-year prison sentence for grand larceny in Sonoma County.

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.

1870

• June 14: Tiburcio Vasquez released from prison in Sonoma County.

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

• January 26: L.A. Evening Express reports that Pico Canyon oil is "unsurpassed in quality."
• 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.
• January 16: Actor and Saugus rancher Harry Carey (Sr.) born in The Bronx.
• 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

• January 29: Comedian W.C. Fields born in Pennsylvania; lived briefly in Newhall.
• March 30: Ignacio del Valle dies.
• April 19: "Pico Oil Spring Mine Section Two" patented by Robert F. Baker and E.F. Beale.

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

• April 22: Surveyor Edward F. Beale dies in Washington, D.C.
• 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.
• March 23: Film director Robert N. Bradbury born.

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.]
• November 22: Vaudevillian Charles Mack born in Kansas; lived in Newhall.
• 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, dines inside at Tolfree's Saugus Eating House.
• 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.
• November 6: Movie producer Trem Carr born in Trenton, Ill.

1892

• April 8: Actress Mary Picford born in Toronto; starred in "Ramona" (1910), shot at Rancho Camulos.
• August 6: Western actor and Saugus rodeo owner Hoot Gibson born in Nebraska.
• September 2: Placerita movie ranch owner E.R. "Ernie" Hickson born in Ohio.
• 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.

1894

• February 1: Film director John Ford born in Maine.

1895

• July 21: Western actor Ken Maynard born in Indiana.

1898

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

1899

• January 5: Acton gold mine owner Henry Tifft Gage becomes governor of California.
• January 18: Martin and Richard Wood purchase Tolfree's Eating House and change its name to the Saugus Cafe.

1900

• June 30: Oil man Darius Towsley dies.
• 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.

1901

• December 5: Movie producer Walt Disney born in Chicago.

1903

• April 6: '49er diarist William Lewis Manly dies in San Jose.
• May 4: President Theodore Roosevelt stops at the Saugus Train Station, Saugus Cafe and Acton Hotel.

1904

• September 1: Western actor Johnny Mack Brown born in Alabama.
• September 5: St. Francis Dam builder William Mulholland and Fred Eaton dine at Saugus Cafe.

1905

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

1906

• January 31: County records deed to property it swaps with station agent James Gifford to build Old Newhall Jail.
• April 25: Bercaw General Store opens in Surrey (Saugus).
• October 4: Standard Oil Company of California formed, Demetrius G. Scofield, president.

1907

• K-8 Saugus School erected.
• January 23: Western actor Bob Steele born (as Robert Adrian Bradbury) in Portland, Ore.
• September 29: Actor and movie ranch owner Gene Autry born in Texas.

1910

• Horseshoe Ranch house built (later owned by William S. Hart).
• May 23: D.W. Griffiths' film "Ramona" released; shot at Rancho Camulos.

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 newspaper owner 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.
• January 25: Early Pico oilman & San Francisquito vintner Ramon Perea dies.
• 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

• March 1: Country music producer Cliffie Stone born in Stockton.
• April 3: Castaic post office established inside Sam Parson's general store.

1918

• September 19: County supervisor Warren Dorn born in Pasadena.

1919

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

1921

• January 15: Construction starts on Lebec Hotel.
• February 5: William S. Hart purchases the Horseshoe Ranch in Newhall from Babcock Smith.
• May 16: Western character actor Harry Carey Jr. (aka Dobe) born at his parents' ranch in Saugus.
• 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

• August 28: Ex-Governor and Acton gold mine owner Henry Tifft 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.
• June 18: Newhall lawman Jack Pilcher buried; funeral expenses paid by local Ku Klux Klan.
• 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.
• January 30: Early Newhall resident Leonardo Cesena dies; broke horses for Newhall Land.
• March 12, 11:57 p.m.: St. Francis Dam breaks, killing more than 450 in California's second-worst recorded disaster.
• June 28: Film director Mel Brooks born in Brooklin; shot "Blazing Saddles" at Vasquez Rocks and "Robin Hood: Men In Tights" in Sand Canyon.

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.
• January 19: Actress and animal rights activist Tippi Hedren born in Minnesota.

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.
• November 30: Scott Newhall and Ruth Waldo marry in Reno; later publish The Signal newspaper.

1934

• January 11: Vaudeville actor & Newhall resient Charles Mack dies in Arizona car crash.

1935

• July 22: St. Francis Dam builder William Mulholland dies in Los Angeles.

1936

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

1937

• January 12: Boeing 247 crashes at Santa Clara Divide; 2 dead, 11 injured.

1938

• July 28: Newhall Tunnel cut away, replaced by Sierra Highway.
• September 9: Buck McKeon, Santa Clarita's first mayor, born in Tujunga/Los Angeles.

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.

1944

• August 12: Newhall Refinery on Sierra Highway destroyed by fire. (It was rebuilt.)

1945

• January 13: State approves petition of Newhall, Saugus, Castaic, Mint Canyon and Sulphur Springs school districts to form Santa Clarita Union High School District, renamed for William S. Hart the following year.
• January 29: Local voters approve bond measure to build SCV's first high school.
• March 9: Voters elect first 5-member governing board of the Santa Clarita Union High School District, renamed for Hart the following year.
• April 28-29: William S. Hart leads Newhall Posse in Bonelli Ranch Rodeo; actor Harry Carey Sr. is grand marshal.
• October 19, shortly after 9 p.m.: Acton Hotel burns to the ground.

1946

• June 19: Socialite Bobbie (Nash) Trueblood arrives in Newhall.
• June 23: William S. Hart dies in Newhall, leaving his estate to the County of Los Angeles.
• August 18: Movie producer Trem Carr dies in San Diego.
• September 8: William S. Hart High School dedicated.
• December 25: Comedian W.C. Fields dies in Pasadena; lived briefly in Newhall.

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.

1947

• September 21: Actor and Saugus rancher Harry Carey (Sr.) dies.
• November 24: Film director Robert N. Bradbury dies.

1952

• Two oil wells come in on the same day at the Jenkins' Lazy Z Ranch in Castaic, making national headlines.
• January 22: Placerita movie ranch owner E.R. "Ernie" Hickson dies in Los Angeles.
• From Ernie Hickson'w widow, actor Gene Autry buys Western movie town in Placerita Canyon, renames it "Melody Ranch."

1953

• May 1: Adrian Adams, later municipal court judge, opens law practice in Newhall with attorney James Lowder. 1954
  • August: County of Los Angeles changes "Spruce Street" (Newhall's main street) to "San Fernando Road."
  • October 7: New York release of "Suddenly" starring Frank Sinatra; shot in Newhall and Saugus.
  1955
  • September 30: Actor James Dean, 24, drives through Castaic Junction en route to his final resting place.
  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 23: Western actor and Saugus rodeo owner Hoot Gibson dies in Woodland Hills.
  • 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.
  • August 1: Leona Cox Community School breaks ground in Canyon Country.
  • November 1: Community of Canyon Country founded; first Frontier Days celebration.
  1965
  • October 1: Santa Clarita National Bank opens.
  1966
  • December 15: Movie producer Walt Disney dies in Burbank.
  1967
  • January 19: Original air date of "Star Trek" Episode 19: Arena; Kirk battles the Gorn commander (Sand Canyon resident Bobby Clark) at Vasquez Rocks.
  • August 20: Community of Valencia dedicated by The Newhall Land & Farming Co.; tract homes sell for $25,000.
  1968
  • November 13: Lebec Hotel closes, following health department inspection.
  1969
  • September 22: College of the Canyons founded.
  1970
  • January 27: Gov. Ronald Reagan appoints Adrian Adams judge of Newhall Municipal Court.
  • 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).
  • April 27: Tejon Ranch Co. demolishes Lebec Hotel.
  • May 12: Actor Tor Johnson ("Plan 9 From Outer Space") dies in San Fernando; buried at Eternal Valley Cemetery in Newhall.
  • May 29: Magic Mountain opens.
  • June 3: Castaic Lake opens.
  1972
  • Castaic Reservoir (Lake) and dam completed.
  • January 17: Edison cottages (at Edison curve) sold to The Newhall Land and Farming Co.
  • October 2: Name "Santa Clarita Valley" becomes official.
  1973
  • March 23: Western actor Ken Maynard dies penniless at the Motion Picture Home in Woodland Hills.
  • August 31: Film director John Ford dies in Palm Desert.
  1974
  • February 7: U.S. release of Mel Brooks' "Blazing Saddles"; exteriors shot at Vasquez Rocks.
  • August 24: Pyramid Lake opens.
  • November 14: Western actor Johnny Mack Brown dies in Woodland Hills.
  1975
  • August 3: Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital founded.
  • September 6: Saugus High School opens.
  • 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
  • January 14: Banker Sara Faye Wood installed as first female president of Newhall-Saugus-Valencia (later SCV) Chamber of Commerce.
  • May 21: St. Francis Dam site becomes a State Landmark.
  • November 7: Second Canyon County formation attempt defeated at the polls.
  1978
  • May 29: Actress Mary Picford dies in Santa Monica; starred in "Ramona" (1910), shot at Rancho Camulos.
  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.
  1983
  • December 9: U.S. release of John Carpenter's "Christine"; blew up fake gas station in Valencia.
  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.
  • December 15: Newhall Refinery on Sierra Highway permanently closed.
  1990
  • February 8: Rock 'n' Roller Del Shannon (song: "Runaway") commits suicide at home in Santa Clarita.
  • 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.
  1992
  • July 28: U.S. release of Mel Brooks' "Robin Hood: Men in Tights"; shot in Sand Canyon.
  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.
  • September 9: Valencia High School opens.
  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.
  1998
  • January 17: Country music producer Cliffie Stone dies at home in Saugus.
  • October 2: Actor and movie ranch owner Gene Autry dies in Studio City.
  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.
  2005
  • January 14: Repertory East Playhouse opens with "The Prisoner of Second Avenue." New theatre company replaces former Santa Clarita Repertory Theatre.
  2006
  • January 10: County supervisor Warren Dorn dies in San Luis Obispo.
  • January 21, 10 a.m.: "Permanent" Newhall Community Center opens.
  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
  • January 22: Santa Clarita City Council votes to change the name of San Fernando Road to "Newhall Avenue" between 5th Street and Highway 14.
  • January 25: Newhall Hardware, est. 1947, citing economic problems, announces it will quit as soon as it can liquidate inventory.
  2010
  • April 17: First Day of Issue of USPS commemorative postage stamps honoring William S. Hart, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and Tom Mix.
  2011
  • July 1: Official first day of Santa Clarita Public Library system.