Buildings at Gene Autry's Melody Ranch motion picture studio in Placerita Canyon, late 1950s.

Most of the buildings, including the hacienda, were lost in the wildfire of August 28, 1962. The hacienda was rebuilt in the early 2000s by brothers Andre and Renaud Veluzat, who purchased the remaining 10 acres of the ranch from Autry in 1990 and started recreating the Western movie sets in 1991.

About the Photographer: HAROLD G. DEINES (1922-1970) brought his family to the Santa Clarita 1954 and taught photography and drivers' education at Hart High School. He also was the proprietor of Pin N' Pen Photo Stationers in Newhall. Harold and wife Esther were married in 1944 in Kansas, where Harold was the sports and society photographer for the Wichita Eagle newspaper. They lived briefly in Tucson, Ariz., prior to their arrival in Newhall (Chestnut Street), where they raised four children — Glenn, Anita (Barnes), Sylvia (Wortman) and Myrna (Litt). Not yet 50, Harold succumbed to a long illness; Esther (1921-2009) continued her teaching and adminstrative career with the Newhall School District, sang in the church choir (Santa Clarita United Methodist) and was active in the SCV Senior Center and Friends of the Library.