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LYON'S STATION
An Historic Celebration Saluting
A visitor to Newhall in 1882 probably would not
have been very impressed with its appearance and
certainly would not have gambled a dime on the
village having any kind of a f u Lure.
Between Market and 8th St., facing San Fer-
nando Rd., were a series of wooden false front
buildings housing a restaurant, saloon, a couple of
general stores, boarding house, feed , and some
scattered residences. Across the dirt street, next to
the railroad tracks, stood the sheds and depot of
Southern Pacific's Newhall station.
Main Street, Newhall
Dominating the landscape would have been the
two-story Victorian known as the Southern Hotel,
squatting right across Market St. and with gardens
and outbuildings stretching down Lo 6th.
Beyond San Fernando Rd. were oak-studded
hills and valleys, broken by some farming activity
and te ming with cattle.
Although small, it was a busy place and full of
colorful characters. Cowboys from the Newhall
Ranch clumped down the wooden sidewalks, spurs
jingling and chaps swishing with each step. There
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were oil-stained roustabouts from the petroleum
fields in Pico, Wiley, and Placerita Canyons. Hard
rock miners from the Soledad passed caulemen
and farmers from the Castaic Hills, all in their di -
tinctive dress. Up and down "Main Street", tall
freight wagons rumbled by pulled by l O or 20
mules, the gentry dashed up and down in buggies,
while farmers drove Lo town in buckboards. Twice
a week the great red Concord stagecoaches left the
Southern bound for Ventura. Every clay at I :20 in
the afternoon, \,vith an car splitting hissing of steam
and sparks flying from the drivers, a mighty dia-
mond-stack locomotive ground to a halt at the sta-
tion, disgorging passengers, mail and crates full of
merchandise. All activity in the town stopped when
the train pulled in. This was really the highlight of
the day. Overdressed women with lacy parasols
rai ·ed high Lo protect them from the sun were on
hand, as were children and teens, to greet the arri-
val or the steam engines. The train brought mail
from relatives and eag rly-read newspapers from
Los Angeles, the only contacts with the outside
world.
What we now call Newhall was originally inha-
bited by a group of Indians called Tataviams along
since 500 A.D. Their village was called Numubit
and consisted of 20 or so grass-covered wikiups.
"The People of the Sunny I I ills" were generally
peaceful and dined on acorns and snakes.
In August of 1769 Spanish troops arrived under
the command of Gov. Don Ga par de Portola,
marched along Newhall Ave. and camped at Cas-
Laic Junction. Fr. Juan Crespi named the river and
valley the Santa Clara, as it was the feast day of St.
Claire.