Castaic, California
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Castaic, California (2000 Census population 22,173 in the 91384 ZIP Code) is an unincorporated community in Los Angeles County, USA. It lies north of Santa Clarita in Castaic Canyon, a few miles from the Santa Clarita Valley and Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park. It is approx. 39 miles from the downtown Los Angeles Civic Center.
Today it is a growing community near the San Fernando Valley and Greater Los Angeles Area, and has many new suburban one and two story houses in new developments. It began life in 1915 at the opening of the original Ridge Route, which brought travelers looking for gasoline, water, food and lodging. Many early day residents of Castaic were involved in providing for travelers' needs along the Ridge Route. Today travelers still enjoy stopping at Castaic for their needs, but also enjoy nearby amenities including Castaic Lake and Pyramid Lake where boating and swimming are favorite pastimes.
Castaic Lake is the terminus of the west branch of the State Water Project and an 1175 MW pumped storage hydroelectric plant located at the north end of Lake Castaic captures the energy from the falling water. From Castaic, the water is delivered to by pipelines to the Los Angeles area.
The Castaic Town Council meets regularly to solve the challenges of the growing community. It covers 100 square miles (259 km²) of area, and includes the Val Verde and Chiquito Canyon areas.
Some of the earliest businesses started in Castaic are Castaic Brick (founded 1927) and George Dunn's Wayside Dairy (founded 1929). Sam's Place (Sam Parson, proprietor) on the Ridge Route has long since gone and is now a memory.
The origin of the name Castaic - misspelled by many over the decades - is the Native American word Kashtuk, meaning "eyes."
