CHATSWORTH
an event viewed as the endof Mexican jurisdiction over California.
Two years later in 1847, the Americans arrived in the Chatsworth area and Captain John C. Fremont, representing the U. S. Government, signed a treaty with the Californians.
The treaty was signed at a house in the Valley, which no longer exists. However, a replica of the house, called“ Campo de Cahuenga”, remains and can still be seen. You can find it at 3919 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood.
In 1848, gold was discovered In California, and on September 9, 1850 California became the 31st state to join the union..
Around this time, farming became prevalent in Chatsworth, though it took several years before homesteaders started to arrive. It wasn’ t until the Homestead Act of 1862, signed by President Abraham Lincoln, that brought them flocking to this desirable land. One stroke of his pen gave early homesteaders just the nudge they needed; the only caveat was they had to agree to stay on the land and improve it for five years.
Families began to filter in, but the population in the northern part of the
Valley remained sparse until former California Senators Charles Maclay and George Porter purchased it in 1874.
Maclay devoted much of his land parcel to forming the City of San Fernando. Porter held the land immediately west of San Fernando. He sold a portion of his parcels to farmers and ranchers, and several hundred acres to his cousin Benjamin F. Porter. Ben Porter’ s land parcel would later become the communities of Chatsworth, Porter Ranch and Northridge.
Settlers eventually began moving to Chatsworth. Its ample farm and ranch land, along with its close proximity to the Santa Susana Stage Coach Relay Station, drew them to the area. The Stage Coach Trail was in use from 1861 to 1895.
The Relay Station provided fresh horses for the stage coaches and a rest stop for passengers, before the steep climb over the Stage Coach Trail through the Simi Hills known as the " Devil ' s Slide ", between Chatsworth and Simi Valley.
In 1876, the Southern Pacific Railroad established a route from Los Angeles to San Francisco through the San Fernando tunnel, limiting the Stage Coach trail use to local traffic.
It was in 1888 that Chatsworth, originally named Chatsworth Park, became a town.
In 1893, the Southern Pacific Railroad completed a spur from Burbank to Chatsworth, replacing the stagecoach as the main source of transportation to and from Chatsworth. A depot stop made it easier for farmers and ranchers to get their products to market. The Chatsworth Station remains still today, but now serves as a stop for Amtrak, Metro trains and MTA buses.
In 1899, Chatsworth became a railroad boom town, as quarry operations began in what is now Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park, and the Southern Pacific Railroad began blasting three tunnels through solid rock from Chatsworth to Simi Valley. The tunnels were completed in 1904, with a new coastal route established from Burbank to Chatsworth to Ventura and Santa Barbara.
Although welcomed, the growing population required a large supply of water. The opening of the Owens Aqueduct on Nov. 5, 1913 remedied that problem. The aqueduct, built by William Mulholland, connected water in the Eastern Sierra’ s Owens Valley to a reservoir west of San Fernando. Its opening ensured that the City of Los Angeles would have a steady water supply.
Chatsworth and many Valley towns were not part of the City of Los Angeles; therefore, their water fees were higher. To access this water system at a
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