What does Santa Clarita mean?
Little Santa Clara
Where did the name Santa Clarita come from?
The short of it: The Santa Clara River was so named from a Spanish exploration party in 1769. That party then moved on to the San Francisco Bay area, where they named their mission,
“Santa Clara.” When it came time to name this valley, there couldn’t be two Santa Claras, so the valley was named Little Santa Clara, or Santa Clarita Valley.
See Ruth Newhall’s wonderful story
here.
How did Valencia get its name?
According to the developer, Newhall Land & Farm Company:
Valencia is named after the oranges that grow on our ranches and because it has a Mediterranean feel to it.
What came first, the City of Santa Clarita or Valencia?
Ground was broken for Valencia between 1957-1965. The City of Santa Clarita was established in 1987.
When did Six Flags Magic Mountain open?
In 1971, a project of the Newhall Land & Farm Company.
Were there orange groves in Valencia or Santa Clarita?
The agriculture crops in the Santa Clarita Valley were onions, carrots, and barley--no oranges. The closest orange groves were at Rancho Camulous, just west of the SCV
