On August 23, 1926, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department dedicated its Newhall Substation No. 6, giving the Santa Clarita Valley its first permanent local base of operations.

Before then, law enforcement in communities like Newhall and Saugus was handled by elected constables, while deputies often had to ride from Los Angeles — leaving plenty of time for suspects to escape. 

Recognizing the need for faster response in rural areas, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted in July 1926 to establish substations throughout the county, including one to oversee the entire northwestern region from Chatsworth to the Kern County line.

The Newhall substation opened in a former home belonging to hotelier Albert Swall at Spruce and Sixth streets (today’s Main and Sixth). 

Deputy J.E.B. Stewart was assigned to launch the new office with seven other deputies, and under his leadership, the station quickly expanded. Jail cells were added in 1928, and for decades the post served as the center of law enforcement for the Soledad Township.

“The station will be open all the time with two men on duty. The force includes deputies Howard, Fox, Ernst, Stockwell, Knus, Nester and Aikens,” wrote then Signal Editor A.B. “Dad” Thatcher. “The new officers are a jolly bunch of fellows, and very pleasant to meet—unless you happen to be transacting your business with them from the wrong end of a sawed-off shotgun.”

By the 1940s and 1950s, the station had become a fixture of community life. Captain Eugene A. “Gene” Haisch, who had served in Newhall since the early 1940s, took command in 1950 after the retirement of Capt. Ambrose Stewart. Haisch led the substation for a decade until his own retirement in 1960. 

A 1959 photograph shows local station personnel — likely including Sgts. D.D. Endom, W.E. Wright and Dennis Cook, and deputies Bareford, Caldwell, C. Hatcher and H.J. Smith — though not all are positively identified.

The Newhall Sheriff’s Station served the growing valley until May 1972, when the department moved into larger quarters at the new County Civic Center in Valencia. 

The old Swall home didn’t sit idle for long: it became the office of “The Newhall Signal” newspaper from 1972 until 1986, and since the early 2000s has housed the business office of the Canyon Theatre Guild.

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

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