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3.8 Cultural Resources

availability from a natural artesian spring. The Pioneer Oil Refinery, which handled the oil piped from
Pico Canyon and was initially set up along the wagon route in the Newhall Pass, moved to present-day
Pine Street in Railroad Canyon next to the new train tracks. The earliest productive refinery on the West
Coast, it operated until 1888. 15

The community of Newhall contains many notable Hollywood movie sets and is the site of the Western

Walk of Fame. Some of the Western relics in downtown Newhall include the “Tom Mix cottages” used as
housing for the early motion picture industry, the American Theater (originally the Tumbleweed Theater)
designed by Charles S. Lee and funded in large part by Actor William S. Hart in 1940; Melody Ranch (aka
Placeritos Ranch and Monogram Ranch), built in the early 1920s and owned from 1952 to 1990 by actor
Gene Autry and used as a location for hundreds of Western films, television series and commercials; and
the Walt Disney Co.’s Golden Oak Ranch in nearby Placerita Canyon. Heritage Junction, located at 24107
San Fernando Road, has been set aside for the preservation of historic local structures. 16

In 1908, the City of Los Angeles obtained rights to the watershed of the Owens Valley. Under direction of
William Mulholland, chief engineer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the project was
expanded in the 1920s into San Francisquito Canyon, where the St. Francis Dam was completed in 1926.
From there, the aqueduct crossed the eastern end of the ranch and extended over the San Fernando Pass
to the spillway above the San Fernando Reservoir. The Newhall directors also agreed to reservoir spillage
of excess water into the Santa Clara River, for use by the ranch. In 1928 the concrete dam failed. The
resulting flood of the river valley on March 12 and 13 caused at least 450 deaths and destroyed 990 homes

and large areas of farmland. It was America’s worst civil engineering failure of the 20 century. In 1932–
th
34, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power built a new earthen dam in Bouquet Canyon. 17

Recognized Resources

The Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society and the California Register of Historic Resources (CRHR) list 9
historical properties, sites, and landmarks in the County’s Planning Area. The approximate locations of
these sites within the County’s Planning Area are shown on Figure 3.8-1, Cultural Resources Within the
County’s Planning Area. The sites are listed in Table 3.8-1, Locations of Cultural and Historical
Resources in the County’s Planning Area and the descriptions of those sites are listed in Table 3.8-2,
Cultural and Historical Resources in the County’s Planning Area. Of these sites, one is a California
Register of Historic Resources, five are State Historic Landmarks, and three are national Register of

Historic Places.

15 Rincon (2002).
16 City of Santa Clarita (1999).
17 Rincon (2002).

Impact Sciences, Inc. 3.8-6 One Valley One Vision Revised Draft Program EIR
0112.023 County of Los Angeles Area Plan
November 2010