One of Santa Clarita's oldest communities has become an historic landmark.
Located at the end of Pico Canyon Road just west of the Southern Oaks development in Stevenson Ranch, Mentryville began settlement as an oil town in 1870 when "Pico Number 4, the first well in Los Angeles County, struck oil in the area.

Mentryville was named after the first oil supervisor in the area; a man named Charles Mentry. Between 1876 and 1900, Mentryville was a boom town with a population of over 200 people. This was a modest community of family homes, blacksmith shops, a schoolhouse, a bakery, social hall, bunkhouses, boarding houses and restaurants, and even featured a gas lighted tennis and croquet court. The only thing missing in Mentryville was a bar, as Mr. Mentry's puritan ethic prohibited drinking and foul language.

By the 1930's, Mentryville became largely abandoned, with only a few residents left in the area when oil production slowed, and by the early 60's, it became a ghost town with only Francis "Frenchy" LaGasse staying behind as the caretaker of the 13 room Mentryville Mansion. He was forced to leave the area after the 1994 Northridge earthquake damaged the home.

In 1995, Chevron, who by then owned the property, donated the land to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. It is now maintained by a group called The Friends of Mentryville, and is a California registered trademark as well as a great place for family gatherings, hiking, and is often used for film and television location shooting.

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