The Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station in the Santa Clarita Civic Center at the corner of Magic Mountain Parkway and Valencia Boulevard opened its doors 36 years ago on May 8, 1972.

Captain Ed Coffeen, then station commander, officiated the ceremony.

Explorer scouts conducted tours of the station and included demonstrations of computerized and expanded traffic record systems. Copies of historic dockets and cases dating back to the early 1900s were on display.

The previous station, located at 24238 San Fernando Road, had opened in 1926. The sheriffs' original jail in Newhall had been built in 1905.

Estelle Foley, official historian for the SCV Sheriff's Station since 1995, spent 12 years between 1996-2008 working on the station's Historical Hall of Fame. 

Foley has written a fascinating history of the station which The Signal will publish Sunday in the paper's Opinion section, and post on The Signal's Web site.