Castaic Junction, California

For other uses, see Castac (disambiguation).

Castaic Junction, California
Unincorporated community
Castaic Junction as viewed from SR 126
Castaic Junction Location in Santa Clarita Valley Show map of Santa Clarita Castaic Junction Location in California Show map of California
Coordinates: 34°26′35″N 118°36′39″W
Country	United States
State	California
County	Los Angeles
Elevation	310 m (1,017 ft)
Time zone	UTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
Area code	661
GNIS feature ID	270336[1]

Castaic Junction is an unincorporated community located in Los Angeles County, California.[1] It is located at the crossroads of Interstate 5 and State Route 126 near the confluence of Castaic Creek and the Santa Clara River.

Places in Castaic Junction carry a Valencia zip code (91355), and it is adjacent to the City of Santa Clarita.

Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park is just south of the junction.

History

Father Juan Crespí camped near what is now Castaic Junction in 1769, at which time there was a "thriving Indian village" on the site.[2]

Castaic Junction was the official southern end of the Ridge Route. The name dates to 1887, before highways were built, when a railroad siding was set up at the junction.[3]

A highway bridge at Castaic Junction was destroyed by the collapse of the St. Francis Dam in 1928.[4]

The community had an Art Deco−Moderne style train depot, serving the railroad line that ran along the Santa Clara River between Saugus and Piru. The depot was demolished around 1990.[3][5]

Just beyond the north end of the Magic Mountain parking lot is the site of the adobe ranch house for the historic Rancho San Francisco, a Mexican land grant that encompassed the Santa Clarita Valley from Piru to Canyon Country.[6]

According to local legend, icon James Dean ate his last meal at the Tip's Restaurant formerly at the crossroads of Highway 126 and The Old Road before he drove on north.[7][8]

See also

• Santa Clarita, California topics
• Rancho San Francisco
• Death Valley '49ers § Burnt Wagons (Jayhawkers)

References

1. "Castaic Junction". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
2. "Neighbors Fight Onslaught of Commuters". The Los Angeles Times. April 28, 2002. p. 19. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
3. "SCVHistory.com AP2221 – Castaic – Castaic Junction Train Siding". Retrieved February 6, 2016.
4. "Main Highway Bridge at Castaic Junction destroyed by the flood following the failure of the Saint Francis Dam, Castaic vicinity (Calif.), 1928 - UCLA Library Digital Collections". digital.library.ucla.edu. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
5. "Castaic Area History". Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
6. "SCVHistory.com – Rancho San Francisco: A Study of a California Land Grant, by Arthur B. Perkins". Retrieved February 6, 2016.
7. "SCVHistory.com – Castaic Junction: James Dean's Last Stop Before Immortality?". Retrieved February 6, 2016.
8. "SCVHistory.com LW2148 – Castaic Junction – Tip's Restaurant Matchbooks". Retrieved February 6, 2016.