On July 2, 1869, Sanford Lyon was appointed postmaster of the Petropolis Post Office, a short-lived but important postal station located at Lyon’s Station in what is now the Santa Clarita Valley. The appointment marked another chapter in the legacy of Sanford and his twin brother, Cyrus Lyon, whose names became synonymous with one of the region’s earliest transportation and ...

Born on November 20, 1831, twin brothers Sanford and Cyrus Lyon would go on to leave a lasting mark on early Santa Clarita through the creation of Lyon’s Station, one of the region’s first rest stops. After journeying “around the horn” from Maine to California during the Gold Rush, the brothers took very different paths in early Los Angeles. Sanford ...

Henry Clay Wiley, one of the early pioneers of Los Angeles and the Santa Clarita Valley, passed away at his home in Los Angeles on October 25, 1898, at the age of 69. Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1829, Wiley spent much of his life shaping Southern California communities through public service, civic involvement, and entrepreneurial ventures. Wiley’s early life ...

On this day in 1874, work was completed on the earliest version of what would become the Pioneer Oil Refinery—originally located at Lyon’s Station, where Eternal Valley Cemetery now stands.  Though it marked a significant first step, this modest 15-barrel still in Newhall faced challenges from the start.  It struggled to produce smoke-free kerosene, the primary use for oil at ...