Saugus is a Native American word – but not a local one. Henry Mayo Newhall (1825-1882), who owned over 46,000 acres of the Santa Clarita Valley, was born in Saugus, MA. The SCV’s Saugus – originally a railroad depot on the late Newhall’s land, christened in 1888 – and this street both honor his birthplace. (The Algonquin word saugus has been variously translated as “great”, “outlet”, and “extended”.) Saugus Avenue was named in 1916 and once ran much further north into the San Fernando Valley, but Sepulveda Blvd. took over the street once it was extended over the Sepulveda Pass in 1935. All that remains of the once-mighty Saugus Ave. are a few hilly blocks south of Ventura Blvd.
Find it on the map:
