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Arts Master Plan

Community Description

Santa Clarita is a suburb of Los Angeles and now the third largest city in Los
Angeles County. Founded in 1987, the City is comprised of four areas: Canyon
Country, Saugus, Newhall, and Valencia. Santa Clarita is part of a geographic

region, the Santa Clarita Valley, which includes six additional and adjacent
areas in the unincorporated Los Angeles County—Acton, Agua Dulce, Castaic,
Stevenson Ranch, Val Verde and West Ranch. Santa Clarita has established a

reputation for being a family-friendly, quiet and safe community, with an
outstanding collection of quality of life amenities that include parks, recreation,
community center and library facilities. The City is also home to signature
events that include the annual Cowboy Festival, the AMGEN Tour of California

bicycle race, and several youth sports events.

The Santa Clarita Valley has a rich and storied history that begins with its

indigenous Native Americans and continues through an extraordinary
confluence of early California ranching, mining, oil, railroads and movie making.
The Tataviam tribe were the valley’s first inhabitants, migrating into the Newhall

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area in the Fifth Century. In the 19 Century, the valley was the site of cattle
ranching, the discovery of gold in 1842 in Placerita Canyon, and California’s
first oil well, in 1876 in Mentyrville. This tiny oil town was home to the longest
running oil rig, which was not capped until 1990. 1876 was also the year in

which the Southern Pacific Railroad completed the railway connection between
San Francisco and Los Angeles with the Golden Spike ceremony at Lang
Station, located in the valley, following an heroic engineering feat of digging the
San Fernando Tunnel, still used by Metrolink and Southern Pacific trains.

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In the early 20 Century, Santa Clarita began its long and continuing history
with the film industry. William S. Hart, who lived in Newhall, was a film actor

active during the ‘teens and the 1920s and, during his career, the world’s most
famous actor. Known as “Hollywood’s back lot,” the valley provided desirable
locations for Westerns, including Hart’s, and was the home of early movie
studios that included Melody Ranch and Disney's Golden Oak Ranch, both in

Placerita Canyon. Many production studios are located in the valley and Disney
is currently building new sound stages for ABC Studios at the Golden Oak

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