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NEWHALL'S NAMESAKE TOWN IS FOUNDED

At the time that Sanford Lyon was bringing eastern culture to the region surrounding matically solving the very serious problem of working conditions that had arisen as the
Eternal Valley, Henry Newhall was becoming a financial tycoon in San Francisco. tunnel sections lengthened. The first train passed through on August 12th.
Newhall's life was an Horatio Alger classic of rags to riches. One of eight children, he In September, Newhall deeded the land adjacent to the tracks to the Western Development
was raised on a farm in Saugus, Massachusetts. He shipped out as a cabin boy on a sailing Company, a real estate subsidiary of the railroad company.
vessel when he was thirteen years old, but he didn't like the life of a sailor so he settled The coming of the railroad made a great difference in the lives of the people at Rancho
in Philadelphia where he mastered the auctioneer's trade. Before he was twenty, he had San Francisco. On October 18, 1876, the era of Rancho San Francisco came to an end
his own firm in N~shville, Tennessee. In 1849, he profitably sold out that business to join with this announcement:
the Gold Rush. The rest of his life was spent in California.
"A new town has been laid out by the Southern Pacific Railroad near the mouth of Soledad
In 1857 he backed a friend with several thousand dollars - a transaction which ultimately Canyon. The town is situated at the head of Santa Clara River and the object of its pro-
involved him in the building of the San Francisco and San Jose railroad. This was Cali- jectors is to tap the trade of our oil region and send it down the Santa Clara Valley to an
fornia's second railroad and its tremendously profitable operation began in 1863. Its ocean outlet.
sale in 1868 reportedly returned Newhall a net profit of over half a million dollars.
"Within the past year, many successful developments have been made in that region.
Loaded with money and superb faith in California's future, Newhall bought several land A character of oil far superior to that in the East is being refined from the flowing wells
grants including Rancho San Francisco - it was deeded to him for $90,000 on Jan. 15, 1875. there.
At that time the Southern Pacific railhead was at Caliente, and construction had begun on "While Los Angeles has treated the enterprise of the men who have developed this impor-
the San Fernando railroad tunnel. As a railroad director, Newhall was fully aware of the ttI;nt industry with neglect, the little town of Ventura has given them a cordial and liberal
railroad's plans, which included the development of a townsite at Rancho San Francisco. welcome and is now the center of refining works."
Across the crest of the San Fernando mountains, a whittish line made of canvas and dust John T. Gifford, as Station Agent, opened the first "Newhall Depot" in one end of a box
clouds developed. Three camps were established on the projected tunnel route. From each car, sidetracked for the purpose at the mouth of the Soledad Canyon. Later the railroad
camp, an incline shaft was sunk to the tunnel level. Costing over three million dollars, built a real depot, and Newhall hired George Campton to act as Ranch Superintendent
the tunnel presented new problems each day which had to be solved with different tech- and he advanced the money for the building 'Of Campton's "General Merchandise Store."
niques. Contemporary newspaper reports were punctuated with cave-ins, boiler explosions Just after the New Year, the Newhall Post Office with Campton as Postmaster opened
and mortality lists. A large number of the victims were buried in Lyon's Station Cemetery. inside his store.
With a work force of 1,500, the railroad tunnel "holed through" on July 14, 1876, auto- The disappearance of the 1500 man work force at the railroad tunnel left an unfillable

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