Santa Clarita Valley History In Pictures
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Little Red Schoolhouse
Callahan's Old West | Agua Dulce (Saugus)


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1960s postcard of the Little Red Schoolhouse and Ramona buggy at Callahan's Old West Trading Post.

Back of postcard reads:

Indian Theatre and Village Museum
136-60 Sierra Highway
Mint Canyon, Saugus, Calif.

The original Ramona buggy which Helen Hunt Jackson used during the days she was writing the immortal novel "Ramona." Adjoining buggy old time school houses [sic] first school benches in California. On the roof — lightning rod from barn of Sam Houston, first Governor of Texas. These have been collected over the years by Mr. Robert E. Callahan, author.
Color Photo by: Louis & Virginia Kay
H3589 Columbia Wholesale Supply, 11401 Chandler, North Hollywood, Calif.

The little red schoolhouse was donated in the 1980s by Callahan's widow, Marion, to the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society. It resides at Heritage Junction Historic Park.


About Callahan's Old West.

Robert E. Callahan's Old West Trading Post, aka Indian Village, at 13660 Sierra Highway in "Outlaw Canyon" was the equivalent of an amusement park of its day.

Callahan (b. Oct. 27, 1892; d. Jan. 10, 1981), an entertainer and novelist, exploited America's fascination with all things Western — especially the romanticized notions of Old California as presented by Helen Hunt Jackson in her seminal 1884 novel, "Ramona" — by collecting objects with a connection, real or imagined, to the novelist and her work, and enticing the public to experience them.

Callahan's initial visions of creating an amusement park to be called Ramona Village morphed into the Mission Village Auto Court, which he opened in 1926 at 5675 W. Washington Blvd. in Culver City. Along with a themed hotel, he erected teepees for travelers and put his collections on display, including a chapel, little red schoolhouse and kiva (a small sweat lodge).

Auto parks were big business as the automobile came into age in the 1920s. There were a few auto parks in the Santa Clarita Valley, most notably McIntyre's camp at Castaic Junction, which was wiped out in the 1928 St. Francis Dam disaster.

In time, L.A. city builders had a different vision for Callahan's Culver City property. By the early 1960s, Mission Village stood in the way of the coming I-10 Santa Monica Freeway. So in 1962 Callahan closed Mission Village and moved it to 13660 Sierra Highway. (The freeway was completed in 1965).

Note: In Callahan's day, that part of Sierra Highway was known as Saugus. The county of Los Angeles later included it within the Acton-Agua Dulce Town Council's sphere of influence. It is commonly considered part of Agua Dulce today.

In 1987, Callahan's widow, Marion, donated several artifacts from the former Indian Village — including the Ramona Chapel and little red schoolhouse — to the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society.

The main building remained on the property, and from From 1986-2000, Marion Callahan leased it to the Canyon Theatre Guild. In 2000 the CTG moved back to downtown Newhall where the community theatre had started.


LW2221c: 9600 dpi jpeg from original postcard purchased 2012 by Leon Worden.
CALLAHAN'S MISSION VILLAGE

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Pollack Story

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Callahan & Carrie Jacobs Bond in Ramona Chapel 1927

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Ramona Cottage ~1930s

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~1940s

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Callahan with Hopi Indians Employees

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Good Luck Charm

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'Hopi Snake Dance' Booklet

CALLAHAN'S OLD WEST TRADING POST

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Description 1965

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1967 Visit x3

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Tom Shubert Story

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Ray Saniger Performs 1967/70 (Mult.)

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Summer of 1967

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1972 Horror Film

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Outlaw Saloon

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Hopi Shrine

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Red Schoolhouse

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Ramona Chapel

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Main Building

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Good Luck Charm
Wrong Address

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Good Luck Charm
Correct Address

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$1,000 Las Vegas Loot

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Schoolhouse Origin

The Callahan Collection: Donation Records


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Schoolhouse Arrives 1987

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Ramona Cradle x2

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