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A HISTORIC LOCATION
HISTORY MAKING
The Center is adjacent to the Gate King Open Space, comprised of 180 acres of dense oak woodlands donated to the
City of Santa Clarita as permanent open space by Needham Ranch’s master developer Mark Gates as part of the 584-
acre Needham Ranch project.
The history of Needham Ranch is colorful. Henry Clay Needham was a prohibitionist who bought large sections of the
Rancho San Francisco (the former name of land currently located within the City of Santa Clarita) and land within the
town of Newhall in 1889 in order to establish his own private alcohol-free zone, a so-called “dry colony”. His plans never
materialized, but Mr. Needham did later become an important community leader and philanthropist. After his death his
heirs sold about 770 acres of the property - the portion bounded roughly by Pine Street, San Fernando Road and Sierra
Highway - to Mark Gates Sr.
Gates eventually sold off a 220–acre portion. In the 1990s, Gates’ son, Mark Jr., began entitlement of The project to
develop the remaining 584 acres as the “Needham Ranch” business park. The historic “Live Oak Manor” rock archway
built in 1889 can still be seen on Sierra Highway. 21
