Early in the morning of August 4, 1992, a piece of Santa Clarita’s past was preserved for the future as the historic Pardee House was relocated to Heritage Junction Historic Park.

Originally constructed in 1890 as a Good Templars Lodge with the help of Henry Clay Needham, Newhall’s only presidential candidate (Prohibition Party), the building first stood on Pine Street. 

Just three years later, in 1893, it was moved by Ed Pardee to 629 E. Walnut Street, nestled in the triangle formed by Newhall Avenue, Market Street, and Walnut Street.

Pardee expanded the structure and made it his family home. A police constable in Newhall and an occasional oil driller in Mentryville, Pardee gave the home its lasting name.

Behind the house, Pardee added a small outbuilding that served as a quiet retreat for Western film icon Tom Mix. The area also became a filming location for some of the earliest collaborations between director John Ford and actor Harry Carey.

In 1946, Pardee’s daughter, Pearl Russell, sold the home to Pacific Telephone Co. (later Pacific Bell), which used it as a local telephone exchange. As the valley grew, so did its communication needs, and the house transitioned to new roles, first leased in 1970 to the Newhall-Saugus Boys Club (now the SCV Boys and Girls Club) as a teen center, and then in 1977 to the Newhall-Saugus-Valencia Chamber of Commerce, which used it as its headquarters until 1987.

After reverting to Pacific Bell, the house found its next chapter in preservation. In 1992, the company donated the structure to the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society. Before sunrise on August 4, the house rounded the corner from Market Street onto what was then the San Fernando Road, making its journey from 24275 Market Street to its current home at Heritage Junction.

Today, the Pardee House stands proudly at the entrance to Heritage Junction Historic Park. 

To view yesterday’s Today in SCV History, click here. 

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