Martha Sharrer Michael

Canyon Country (Images of America) Martha Sharrer Michael

Located in northern Los Angeles County in the Santa Clarita Valley, Canyon Country was once the ancestral home of the Tataviam people, who were the area's first inhabitants as early as 500 ad. The first recorded American resident was Col. Thomas Mitchell, who established the area's first school in 1872 with his wife, Martha. In 1876, when Southern Pacific Railroad president Charles Crocker drove in the golden spike that connected Northern and Southern California at Lang Station, Canyon Country's significance as a crossroads community began. The town also became a section of US Route 6, the longest transcontinental highway. Today, Canyon Country is a blend of old and new, juxtaposing hundred-year-old ranch houses with 21st-century golf courses and providing locations for Hollywood's newest depictions of the Old West.