On December 29, 1907, founder of the Eternal Valley Cemetery, Mark T. Gates Sr. was born in Nebraska. 

Mark T. Gates Sr. served as mayor of Santa Monica from March 1947 until April 17, 1951. He became the city’s first mayor elected following a charter reform that transitioned Santa Monica to a council-manager system of government. Prior to this change, the city was governed by three elected commissioners.

On February 5, 1958, Mark T. Gates Sr. established Eternal Valley after his father-and-son business, Gates, Kingsley and Gates Funeral Directors of Santa Monica, acquired the 750-acre Needham Ranch in 1957.

Eternal Valley was developed on a 220-acre portion of the ranch that included the historic Pioneer Cemetery, which dated back to the era of Sanford Lyon and the Lyons Station stagecoach stop.

Prior to becoming a memorial park or funeral home, the land served as a stagecoach stop established in 1855 by Sanford Lyons, a pioneer of the Santa Clarita Valley. Known as Lyons Station, the site functioned as a general store, stage depot, post office, telegraph office, tavern, and cemetery for local residents and travelers. 

In 1888, Henry Clay Needham purchased the land, created the 750-acre Needham Ranch, and established a cemetery on the property.

Mark T. Gates Sr. passed away on July 12, 1972. Following his death, his company sold the Eternal Valley property while retaining ownership of 584 acres of the former Needham Ranch.

Today, Eternal Valley Memorial Park and Mortuary is still used as a cemetery and also offers funeral, cremation, burial and memorialization services to families in the Santa Clarita community.

To read the previous Today in SCV History, click here.

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