In Santa Clarita history, on March 19, 1875, Tiburcio Vasquez was executed after years of being on the run during a long-term life of crime.   Tiburcio Vasquez was born in Monterey, Alta California, Mexico on April 11, 1835 to Jose Hermenegildo Vasquez and Maria Guadelepe Cantua.  Vasquez grew up in a moderately well-off, middle-class family that owned land, granted to ...

In Santa Clarita history, on March 18, 1919, the Southern Hotel, a landmark in the history of Newhall, met its tragic end in a devastating fire.  Located at the southeast corner of what is now Main and Market streets, the second Southern Hotel had a rich history that traced back to its predecessor, the first Southern Hotel, which was also ...

On March 17, 1927, the Newhall Telephone Exchange marked a significant milestone, expanding to 100 telephones after starting with just one in 1911.  This rapid growth reflected the increasing importance of telecommunication in the Newhall area during the 1900s. The Newhall Telephone Exchange was first established on July 12, 1900. However, it remained a modest operation for over a decade, ...

On March 16, 2008, Newhall Hardware closed its doors on Main Street for the final time after nearly six decades in operation. Newhall Hardware opened at 725 Spruce Street on Aug. 16, 1947, by Don Guglielmino,  a former Notre Dame football player and WWII veteran of the Army Air Corps who had family on a ranch in the Santa Clarita ...

On March 15, 1942, Emery Whilton opened up a public-private museum and hotel in Lebec.  One of the weirder footnotes in local history is Emery M. Wilton’s short-lived Florafaunium, a public-private museum in Lebec. As the name implies, it housed a massive collection of stuffed animals and plants mostly native to California.  Whilton was born in Indiana in 1879, came ...

On March 14, 1928, the L.A. Times and national news outlets announced the first reports of the St. Francis Dam collapse. The St. Francis Dam collapsed at 11:57 a.m. on March 12, 1928. Due to reporting deadlines, initial coverage of the disaster did not appear in most morning newspaper editions in Los Angeles and across the country until March 14.  ...

On March 13, 2020, Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Santa Clarita reported its first confirmed case of COVID-19. This marked the beginning of the pandemic’s impact on the Santa Clarita Valley, leading to significant changes in daily life for the next several years. The very same day, the City of Santa Clarita announced a local state of emergency, canceling or ...

The St. Francis Dam collapse is still remembered by Santa Clarita residents 97 years later as one of the most deadly civil engineering disasters in the country. Ninety-seven years ago, on March 12, 1928, more than 400 people lost their lives, homes, farms and so much more that was destroyed as a result of the collapse of the St. Francis ...

On March 11, 1890, prominent landowner William C. Chormicle was taken into custody and brought to Los Angeles to stand trial for the brutal killing of two men in Castaic Canyon. The murders were a pivotal moment in the violent Castaic Range War, a land dispute that plagued the region for decades. Chormicle, along with his associate W.A. Gardner, was ...

Thirteen years ago today, Hart High School alum John Hobbs was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, crediting his former band teacher for playing a key role in his journey. “Hometown boy makes good,” Hobbs said in a past interview with KHTS. “It feels great, it really is an honor, it’s humbling, you know. Out of so many ...