For the longest time - a century or more - we haven't really known what year the Southern Hotel burned down. (It was located in Newhall, roughly the Trocadero parking lot.) But now, thanks to local historian Lauren Parker and tons of old newspapers that weren't previously accessible, not only do we know the year and the date; we even know the time. The fire broke out at 8:15 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23, 1888, when somebody lit the fireplace in the dining room for the first time of the season. The flue wasn't working properly. The wood-frame structure went up like kindling. Folks worried the whole town might be obliterated, and it nearly was. The train depot across the street (where today's Metrolink Station is) and other structures caught fire but didn't burn down, thanks to some quick-thinking Pico oil workers who manned a fire brigade.