Lyons is actually named for two men named Lyon: Sanford and Cyrus, twin brothers born in Maine in 1831. Gold Rush fever brought the teenage Lyons to California, but they headed to Los Angeles instead of San Francisco. After working for a time as clerks, in 1868 the Lyons – or at least Sanford – bought a ranch near the present-day intersection of Newhall Avenue and Sierra Highway and ran a stagecoach depot called Lyon’s Station. Although the land was soon sold to a Polish immigrant named Adam Malezewski, the station kept the Lyon name and grew into a mini-town, with a store, saloon, and post/telegraph office. Sadly, its fate was sealed when the railroad came in… a mile away. A nearby oil field (“Petroliopolis”) kept the Lyons in clover until Sanford passed away in 1882 (he’s buried in Eternal Valley, near the site of his old station) and Cyrus in 1892. Lyons Avenue took the brothers’ name by 1910.
Find it on the map:
