One major contributor to the valley's early development was the Whittaker-Bermite Corporation. From 1934 to 1987, the corporation manufactured, stored, and tested explosives, including bombs and bottle rockets, on a 996-acre site in Saugus just south of the present-day Santa Clarita Metrolink station. The first housing tract in the area consisted of company homes along Walnut Street in Newhall. In modern times, efforts have been made to clean the area of perchlorate and other toxic chemicals left behind by decades of munitions testing. Today, the area persists as a gap in the urban development of Santa Clarita.