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The earliest oil discoveries in Pico Canyon date back to the late 1870s, when Henry Newhall purchase the Ranco San Francisco and commissioned Alex Mentry to look for Oil.
The photo is attributed to R.E. Nickel.
Rudolph Eugene Nickel, who later became known as the "Father of Acton", came to town in October of 1887 and by December, his application for a post office was approved and plans were made for his home, a general store and post office. In 1895, he built a new home and the two-story home and store was converted into the Hotel Acton, a lavish, Victorian structure with a loft. The hotel opened in 1897 and prospered until 1926. It was a private home until 1942 when it again became the Hotel Acton, which burned on October 19, 1945, under mysterious circumstances.
Acton's original schoolhouse, known as the "Little White School," was built in 1881 and was used until the brick "Soledad School" was built in 1890 at the west end of Cory Street. It's now used as a private residence.
The first two-story house was built by R.E. Nickel on the northwest corner of Cory Street and Crown Valley Road. Nickel also built a store on the side of the house and sold general merchandise, miners supplies, hardware, groceries. dry goods, boots, shoes, drug and confectioneries. During an 1891 camping trip to Mt. Gleason, 17 year old Lou Henry Hoover (later to become President Herbert Hoover's wife), stopped in Acton and posed for a photo on a burro outside the store.
