Page 14 - butlerthyberg1948

7

brought about primarily by the discovery of new oil fields

in the Newhall and Castaic Union School Districts. The
increase in attendance was brought about by the location

of the Bermite Powder Company in Saugus, their subsequent

employment t of one thou sand or more workers at the peak,

and the influx of population from the nearby urban area

of Los Angeles mainly employed at the huge airplane fact-

ories in the nearby San Fernando Valley. A hundred or
more homes were built t by the Bermite Powder Company in

the Newhall area alone. Former summer cottages in the

nearby canyons acquired year •round residents.

When first formed the new high school district was

called the Santa Clarita Union High School District. In
the fall of 1945 the name of the school was changed to

the William S. Hart High School in honor of teh former

star of silent WEstern pictures who was a long-time resi-

dent and benefactor of the area.

Because of building restrictions and the inability
to construct a suitable building, the students of the

high school have been divided into two groups. The stu-

dents of grades ten, eleven and twelve in the first year

of the new school's existence continued to attend the San

Fernando High School of the Los Angeles City High School