Santa Clarita History Center

Everything old is new again – an old favorite gets a new look, a new name and a bright future and it’s all happening at Hart Park in Newhall. Heritage Junction, the home of eight historic buildings and a steam engine and caboose on display to the public – has officially been renamed “Santa Clarita History Center” and a new logo designed and adopted.
The logo, designed by former Disney art director Greg Wilzbach and a bold departure from the vintage logo used since the Society’s founding in 1975, features elements of historic firsts and influences on the Santa Clarita Valley and its surroundings – the indigenous people, agriculture, the railroad, the discovery of gold and oil, and the entertainment industry – and mirrors the color palette of the City’s Old Town Newhall arts district.
“Santa Clarita has a huge amount of diverse history.  Designing a logo that captures it all with a more contemporary graphic design, was quite the challenge,” Wilzbach said. “Hopefully this new logo will help represent a new phase in bringing our rich history to life.”
“We want to remind everyone who visits Santa Clarita that history happens here,” said SCV Historical Society President Alan Pollack. “This is an exciting time for the Historical Society. We’re evolving into a professional museum organization with staff and best practices for collections care. ‘Santa Clarita History Center’ conveys who we are and what we’re doing.”
In 1980, the endangered Southern Pacific railroad depot was moved from its original location across from the Saugus Café to land within the boundaries of Hart Park and became the SCV Historical Society’s headquarters. As the years went by and development took off, the collection of historic buildings grew. Gene Autry donated the 1629 Mogul Engine from Melody Ranch in 1982; the Mitchell Adobe bricks were recovered from the Mitchell homestead in Sand Canyon and reassembled across from the depot in 1986; and in 1987, the schoolhouse and Ramona Chapel from Callahan’s Old West up Sierra Highway, and the Kingsburry House, from downtown Newhall, were moved in; the Edison House was rescued from a group of worker’s homes on Magic Mountain Parkway in 1988; the Newhall Ranch House moved from the overflow parking lot of Magic Mountain in 1990 and in 1992, the last structure to join the collection was the Pardee House, formerly the home of the Chamber of Commerce and Boys and Girls Club from the triangle now known as Veterans Historical Park.
The moniker “Heritage Junction” was first adopted by the Society’s board of directors in March 1989, to signify the train station as its anchor. Today, the Santa Clarita History Center will be the home to two museums and a variety of historic structures for visitors to explore.
“Those of us who’ve been involved with the Historical Society for a long time feel a sense of nostalgia for ‘Heritage Junction,’ but we’re turning corners and striving to serve a community that has changed and grown at least three-fold since we founded our museum nearly 50 years ago,” said Leon Worden, Society Vice President and overseer of the restoration efforts. “We need to make sure we’re connecting with the people who live here today and living up to their expectations.” 

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