How Did Elsmere Canyon Get Its Name?

As I mentioned in the history of oil development in Elsmere Canyon webpage, the first obvious references to Elsmere Canyon were made in August of 1874. For example, in the Los Angeles Herald, August 2, 1874, it was reported that "A few days ago Mr. M. Kraszynski, who lives near Lyons Station, while passing up an arroyo in that locality, discovered thirty-two flowing oil springs within a short distance of each other." That could only be Elsmere.

In 1889, three claims were recorded for Elsmere Canyon in Book D (pages 205-207) of the records of the San Fernando Petroleum Mining District. They were the Soledad Oil Claim, filed January 31, the Elsmere Oil Claim, filed February 1, and the Pomona Oil Claim, filed February 1. On August 25, 1898, the Pacific Coast Oil Company (PCO), owners of the claims, registered a mining claim for the Elsmere Consolidated Oil Mining Claim in the land office at Los Angeles. The claim consolidated the Elsmere Oil Claim, the Soledad Oil Claim, and the Pomona Oil Claim. The total claim consisted of about 470 acres of land, which was patented to PCO by the US General Land Office on February 17, 1899. The first actual use of "Elsmere Canyon" that I could find was in an 1896 publication (Oil and Gas Yielding Formations of Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara Counties - Bulletin No. 11 of the California State Mining Bureau).

"Pico oil-wells. These are situated in what is commonly known as the Pico Canyon oil-field, which is about 7 miles from Newhall. There are about thirty-five wells in Pico Canyon, one in Elsmere Canyon, and one in Wylie Canyon."

The following is a condensed and somewhat clarified version of an article written by Jerry Reynolds for the Daily Signal newspaper on August 29, 1993. Reynolds was at that time the curator of the Santa Clarita Historical Society. (With thanks to Pat Saletore of the Santa Clarita Historical Society for providing me with this newspaper article and other information about Elsmere Canyon.)

Henry Clay Needham

In 1887 John St. John, the governor of Kansas, contracted with Jesse Yarnell of Los Angeles and George B. Katzenstein of Sacramento to purchase a tract of land for a proposed "dry colony." St. John was a nationally known leader of the Prohibition Party who had drafted, along with Henry Clay Needham, the Kansas Dry Laws. At the time, Newhall Land and Farming Co. was going through one of its periodic cash flow problems, so it agreed to sell 10,000 acres to the Prohibitionists. This became know as the St. John Subdivision. On October 12, 1887, Henry Clay Needham and his wife arrived in Newhall acting as the personal emissaries of Governor St. John. They stayed at the old Lyon Station complex (now Eternal Valley Cemetery). Sales at the St. John Subdivision were slow, partly due to a depression, but probably more so because of a clause in the deed reading "... no wines or alcoholic liquors shall be sold, offered for sale, or kept on the devised premises."

One person who could live with that was Ed Lingwood. In 1889 he, his wife Mary Booth, and his daughter Ollie, settled the upper reaches of what was to become Elsmere Canyon. He worked as a section foreman for Southern Pacific Railroad. Lingwood was born in Port Ellesmere, England, on January 4, 1857, immigrating to Kansas with his family at the age of 12. There, he married an Ohio girl in 1879, became associated with the Prohibitionists and was more than likely enticed to the Newhall area by Needham.

Lingwood called his property Ellesmere Ranch, probably naming it for the founder of his hometown, Sir Thomas Egerton, First Viscount Brackley, Baron Ellesmere, who lived from 1540 to 1617. Ellesmere Island in Canada and Lake Ellesmere, New Zealand, were also named in honor of the Viscount. It is also suggested that Lingwood had Sir Edward Inglefield, First Earl Ellesmere in mind. More than likely Elsmere Canyon is named for Viscount Brackley.

I cannot confirm this story because Reynolds did not provide any sources. In another article, Reynolds writes that "it is said that the wide branching oaks and park-like setting ...reminded Ed Lingwood of his birthplace, so he named his ranch Ellesmere, which gradually became Elsmere." Again, no source given.

However, I don't believe the story. The Elsmere oil claim was filed on February 1, 1889, the same year that Lingwood supposedly moved to the canyon. Reynolds did not say which month Lingwood was in Elsmere. Even if it happened to be in January, it is impossible that Ellsmere "gradually" changed to Elsmere in less than a month. Second (see the below genealogy), Lingwood apparently wasn't born in Ellesmere Port (the correct name - not Port Ellesmere). Thirdly, Lingwood had actually homesteaded land in Placerita Canyon and received a patent on December 31, 1903. Since to receive a patent, the person had to have lived on the property for five years, Lingwood had to have started living in Placerita Canyon no later then December 31 of 1898. I believe that in his quest to stop the proposed dump in Elsmere Canyon, Reynolds made this story up. Elsmere Canyon got its name because the Elsmere Consolidated Oil Mining Claim was the main claim in the canyon. I could not discover why "Elsmere" was chosen as a claim name in 1889.