On the night of Friday, October 19, 1945, a fire brought an end to one of the Santa Clarita Valley’s most iconic landmarks, the Acton Hotel.

Built in 1890 by local pioneer Richard F. Nickel, the elegant two-story Victorian inn was a centerpiece of the small mining town of Acton for more than half a century.

The blaze began in the attic shortly after 9:20 p.m. and spread rapidly through the wooden structure.

By the time fire crews from Vincent, led by Capt. John Segrist, arrived at the scene, the building was already beyond saving. The structure housed both the Acton Hotel and the town’s post office. Firefighters and townspeople, aided by postmaster Clarence Rush’s wife, managed to save the post office records and equipment before the building collapsed.

Although the cause was officially listed as undetermined, arson was strongly suspected.

(SCV History)

The Acton Hotel was a remnant of an earlier era, originally built to accommodate workers from the Red Rover Mine. With its ornate gingerbread trim and high ceilings, it was one of the finest structures in the small mountain town. By the 1940s, it had passed through several owners and seen better days, but it remained a central landmark on the main road through Acton.

The fire came amid growing tension between the hotel’s owner, ex-serviceman Samuel H. Schorr, and his manager, Clarence Rush.

Schorr had returned from military service just two weeks before to discover that large quantities of merchandise, mining tools, poultry equipment, and even antique furnishings and oriental rugs were missing from his hotel and store, with no records of sale.

He accused Rush, who had been managing the business in his absence, of theft and filed a grand theft complaint in Soledad Justice Court. Rush was arraigned on Thursday, October 18, the day before the fire, and released on a $2,000 bond.

According to The Newhall Signal and Saugus Enterprise, Schorr also claimed Rush had also used $1,000 meant to drill a well behind the hotel to instead dig one on property belonging to Rush’s brother-in-law.

Newspapers reported that Schorr’s sister later received a threatening letter warning, “Pay me the $720 you owe me or I will drop a match to the place.” Postal authorities investigated, but no arrests were made.

When the hotel burned the following night, many in the community found the timing suspicious, but investigators were never able to prove foul play.

Fire officials estimated the loss at around $15,000. Two months later, the district attorney moved to dismiss the grand theft case against Rush for lack of evidence when Schorr failed to appear in court. The legal dispute ended quietly, and the ruins of the once-grand Acton Hotel were summarily removed.

The hotel’s builder, Richard F. Nickel, had arrived in Acton in 1887 and quickly became known as the “Father of Acton.” He served as the town’s first postmaster, established the Acton Rooster newspaper, and founded the Acton Water Works, the first water company in the Santa Clarita Valley.

His hotel hosted many notable guests, including California Governor Henry T. Gage, Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover, and purportedly even a King of Spain.

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

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