Looking North & South from SPRR Newhall Crossing

Detail of Newhall Ice house in the top photo. Click to enlarge | Download archival scan

January 4, 1938 — Three views, one looking northeast (above) and the others looking southwest (below) from the Southern Pacific Railroad crossing next to Pine Street in Newhall. 6¼x8½-inch prints, damaged (probably water damage), especially at the right and bottom margins. The same forgotten photographer also shot photos of Saugus Junction on the same date. Two months later, the Great Flood of 1938 would make a mess of these scenes.

In the photo above, the photographer is standing on the south side of the tracks (the "1" on the aerial view below) and looking toward downtown Newhall. The SPRR Newhall Depot at the northeast corner of Market Street and Railroad Avenue is in the center of the photograph between two utility poles. Newhall Ice Co., est. 1903 at 5th Street, is at center-left (see inset).

Detail of Union Oil Co. tanks in the second photo below. Click to enlarge | Download archival scan

In the photos below, the photographer is standing on the north side of the tracks (the "2" on the aerial view below) and looking in the direction of Sierra Highway, which is out of view. The Frew property, which would later become part of Hart Park, is to the photographer's right (south), out of frame.

The first photo below shows the Standard Oil Company building and tanks on the left (north) side of San Fernando Road, now called Newhall Avenue. Not to be outdone, the Union Oil Company has four tanks on the south side. The second photo below is a closer (tighter) view.

The backs of the photographs are dated January 4, 1938, and numbered, respectively, B-435.3/#6, BE-448.7/#6 and B-435.3/#6. The photographer and the purpose of the photographs is unknown.