Santa Clarita

City in southwestern California, in the Santa Clarita Valley, on the Santa Clara River, 48 km/30 mi northwest of central Los Angeles; population (1990) 110,600. The whole area is a growing suburb. Master's College (Newhall; 1927) and the College of the Canyons (Valencia; 1967) are here, as is the large Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park.

The Newhall (San Fernando) Pass connects the valley with the San Fernando Valley to the south and is a major gateway to the Los Angeles area. Created in the 1980s, Santa Clarita includes the former communities of Rancho, Santa Clarita, Newhall, Saugus, and Valencia.

Gold and oil In 1842 the first, minor, California gold strike was made at Placerita, to the southeast. In 1861, oil was found in the Newhall Basin, and the state's first refinery was built here in 1876. Oil production continues, largely to the west.

Water schemes The Saugus Tunnel, built in 1876, connected Los Angeles with northern California by way of the San Joaquin Valley. The California Aqueduct brought water through it to the growing city of Santa Clarita. The Santa Clarita Valley figured in early Los Angeles water schemes, and the San Francisquito Canyon, to the north, was the site of a damburst in March 1928 in which hundreds died along the Santa Clara River as a wall of water rushed west through Ventura County.