I’m asking for some help. No, not the kind you think I need, but some help in the form of historical information and personal stories about a few of the buildings and objects we have at Heritage Junction in William S. Hart Park in Newhall.

Did you ever get on or off of a passenger train at Saugus Station? Maybe you picked up a package or some freight there. Maybe you remember the old steam engines that stopped there, too. We need a lot of the stories. It is part of our history of the SCV.

I remember when the Pardee House was the telephone company. Didn’t we pay our phone bills there in person? I don’t remember. Some of you might. It was the place where the telephone operators would connect the SCV with the rest of the world. I wonder how many times they heard someone from our valley say to a relative calling from the cold Midwest, “Everyone out of the pool – we’ve got a call from Nebraska.” My dad loved saying that even if it was 35 degrees out and we had the heat turned up high.

The Pardee House, now at Heritage Junction, used to stand where Veterans Historical Plaza is located today. It used to be the telephone company office, among other things. Click to see what else.

I know many folks remember the Newhall Ranch House. It is said to be haunted. How about it, folks? I think there are still some people around who lived in it about the same time I lived in the Pico Cottage in Mentryville. Care to tell us your memories?

Did you ever sneak into Melody Ranch and play around the train engines?

We are also looking for folks who lived in an Edison House like the one we have at the Junction. Same goes for stories about Kingsburry House.

The Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society is looking for all y’all and the history you hold for those great moments that you remember of those buildings and our old train engine.

We’d love to make a video of you telling your story. Sort of a living history interview so that we can fill in some of the gaps the record doesn’t quite have down correctly.

I’m sure the statute of limitations has passed, so any stories won’t send you to jail.

Much our history in this valley is recorded in old photographs. We have thousands of photos at Heritage Junction. Do you have any that might help the Historical Society cover some ground? Maybe a snapshot of kids at the roller rink that used to be at the corner of Railroad and Magic Mountain? How about a view of the hills before Valencia and Magic Mountain? I don’t know what you might have, but there are some more out there, I’m sure.

The SCV Historical Society is starting a fundraising effort and getting some trees planted, too. For donors who contribute $5,000, we will plant a tree and have a plaque with your name next to it. Maybe you want to honor someone in your family? Dedicate a tree to them.

That is one of the many examples of some ways you can contribute to our history. A tree will outlive most of us. Imagine a valley or California live oak that could be around 100 or so years from now. The folks will read the plaque and think you were really a great person for helping preserve our heritage.

Membership in the society is really cheap. $30 a year for individuals and $50 for a family. We have a price for seniors and students, too. Corporations and companies can also lend a hand. The Society is a nonprofit 501c3 qualified charity organization.

This year, 2015, is the year my father would have turned 100. Next Aug. 8 to be exact. I think of the stories about our local history he could have told us like his times of when he was a deputy at the “Honor Farm” and was in charge of the dairy. Maybe the garage he had near Gorman in the late 1940s would be what he would talk about. Saving the Pico Cottage was one of his proudest accomplishments in his life. Just after Thanksgiving in 1959, he came home with news that we would move into that house after Christmas. That little piece of history was saved.

We didn’t have video camera in those days, and of course we didn’t think to write much down or even record any of them on tape (reel to reel). Now is the chance to do just that.

We would like to hear from you, each and every one. If you think you’ve got a story to tell about the SCV “way back when,” please contact me. The email address appears below.

If you don’t tell your story, it might never be heard. That would mean a piece of history would be lost forever. Maybe it is the one way folks will know you were even here. Maybe the only way.

Let me know. I love a good story, don’t you?

Darryl Manzer grew up in the Pico Canyon oil town of Mentryville in the 1960s and attended Hart High School. After a career in the U.S. Navy he returned to live in the Santa Clarita Valley, where he serves as executive director of the SCV Historical Society. He can be reached at dmanzer@scvhistory.com. His older commentaries are archived at DManzer.com; his newer commentaries can be accessed [here]. Watch his walking tour of Mentryville [here].