We’ve been called everything from Rancho San Francisco to Valencia Valley. WAIT A FEW YEARS AND CALL IT CONDOLANDIA - I’ve oft pointed out how many different names this area has had. On average, the Newhall Depot cost $142 to run every month and took in $87. During the Great Depression, the railroad company’s math pretty much said it all.

SoPac came to town on this date to hold community input meetings.

They cut themselves a couple of steaks, cooked them over a campfire and left the carcass.ĭO THE MATH - The year before, Southern Pacific shocked locals by announcing they would be closing the old Newhall Train Depot (where the Jan Heidt Metrolink station sits today). Some hungry thieves shot a calf at old man Donohue’s place west of Saugus. The school’s bell and piano had been quiet for years. In its heyday, there were around 35 kids attending. leased the site.Ī STERLING REPUTATION - Speaking of mining, the old and historic Sterling Mine had reopened earlier and along with it, the Sterling School. That’s nice numbers, considering that the market rate was about $100 a ton for the stuff. It was estimated to be 17 to 45% pure and that more than a million tons were in sight. An exposed vein, a mile long and 50 feet deep, was discovered about 20 miles north of the Saugus Cafe. Dreariness and desolation may hang like everlasting clouds all around and about the distant desert Lang.” Excuse me? “Mojave…?” And then, sticking Lang between Bouquet and Mint? No wonder The Express ran out of business…ĭAT’S A LOT OF PENCILS - An engineer’s report declared that Saugus was home to America’s largest graphite deposit. It lies about half way between Mint and Bouquet Canyons. Made up of a few small houses confronting one another from opposite sides of a gully, the gully being a dry desert river bed. THE WORST KIND OF YELLOW JOURNALISM - The old Los Angeles Express newspaper offered this rather dismal description of upper Canyon Country: “Situated in the wilds and desolation of the Mojave Desert. Seems the gals raked in $12.71 for the day, part of which was tallied from the sale of one (1) roasted chicken. WE ARE ACTUALLY ARGUABLY A SMIDGE MORE INTERESTING A CENTURY HENCE - No jokes about this reminding you of the present-day Mighty Signal, but on this date, one of the front-page lead stories was about the Newhall Women’s Club’s Cooked Food Sale. A century back, Harry was filming his non-verbal oater: “Man from The Desert.” HC was one of the very few movie stars who successfully transitioned from the silents to the talkies. THE LOVABLE COWBOY ACTOR - Harry Carey owned a giant ranch up San Francisquito Canyon, stretching into the thousands of acres. SCV Signal News Podcast with Aron Bender.

Quake ranger