Acton

History

The town originally had served as a railroad camp from 1873 to 1876 when the Saugus-Mojave section of the Southern Pacific Railroad was under construction. Acton was once considered for the State capital of California. California Governor Henry T. Gage (1899–1903) owned the Governor Mine, hence the name, and sought to relocate the capital to Acton. This effort ultimately failed and the capital was not moved from Sacramento. In the late 1880s, Acton started to become more of a ranching and farming community. In 1889 Acton's first hotel and its first saloon, the "49er" (formerly Sutter's Mill), was opened and is still in business today.

Geography

Acton is located at (34.472777, -118.183696), east of Santa Clarita and south of Palmdale. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , over 99% of it land. Mount Gleason, one of the peaks of the San Gabriel Mountains, is located south of Acton and can be seen in the town or by passersby on the 14. This region experiences warm (but not very hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above . According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Acton has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated Csb on climate maps. Summer daytime temperatures average and above.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  4,500
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  3,545
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,667
• California/Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay

  Aphelocoma californica (Vigors, 1839) · Aves
  2,448
• Lesser Goldfinch

  Spinus psaltria (Say, 1822) · Aves
  2,407
• California Towhee

  Melozone crissalis (Vigors, 1839) · Aves
  2,394
• White-crowned Sparrow

  Zonotrichia leucophrys (J.R.Forster, 1772) · Aves
  2,321
• Anna's Hummingbird

  Calypte anna (R.Lesson, 1829) · Aves
  2,303

Largest nearby schools

• iLEAD Hybrid
  Other · Acton · 3,575 students · 20.8:1 ratio
• Highland High
  High · Palmdale · 2,790 students · 25.6:1 ratio
• Palmdale High
  High · Palmdale · 2,443 students · 23.3:1 ratio
• Palmdale Aerospace Academy
  Other · Palmdale · 2,278 students · 25.6:1 ratio
• David G. Millen Law and Government Magnet Academy
  Middle · Palmdale · 1,023 students · 23.8:1 ratio
• Antelope Valley Learning Academy
  Other · Palmdale · 1,013 students · 27.4:1 ratio
• Desert Willow Fine Arts Sci and Tech Magnet Acad
  Middle · Palmdale · 974 students · 22.1:1 ratio
• Esperanza Elementary
  Elementary · Palmdale · 950 students · 26.4:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.53 — 2026-09-18
  11 km N of Fillmore, CA
• M 2.94 — 2026-09-17
  4 km SSE of Compton, CA
• M 2.56 — 2026-09-13
  27 km SSE of Malibu, CA
• M 2.65 — 2026-09-12
  4 km E of Lennox, CA
• M 2.62 — 2026-09-12
  5 km WNW of Willowbrook, CA
• M 2.62 — 2026-09-11
  6 km W of Edwards Air Force Base, CA