but once the water spilled down the Cascade the formal program was abandoned. BOOK - The Water Seekers, by Remi Nadeau (1950). Construction proceeded uneventfully, and water began filling the dam in March of 1926. A stone cabin, largely intact, was building several years later, and a sizable canyon home was built in the 1920s. 3 Minutes to Midnight at the Dam Jim Harris, 3-13-2018. 2017 - Drone Video: St. Francis Dam Site San Francisquito Canyon Map - Valley - Los Angeles, United States - Mapcarta A little over a decade later, the property was inundated by the St. Francis reservoir i.e., it was under water from 1924-1928. LW2207 - St. Francis Dam Wreckage, March 1928. Video: St. Francis Dam Disaster The History Channel (segment). LW3538 - Photo Gallery: Disaster Site and Start of PH-2 Reconstruction; Robert Wenzel, 1928. The Los Angeles Aqueduct Chapter 23, McGroarty's History of Los Angeles County, 1923. Title records show the land was deeded in 1946 to Bert W. Hunick and wife Ora Hunick. AL2063 - Bouquet Canyon Dam under construction to replace the St. Francis, press photo, 8-24-1933. Draft Environmental Impact Report with Appendices. Avalanche of Water Left Death, Ruin in Its Wake by Cecilia Rasmussen Los Angeles Times, 2-16-2003. The dam was located in the San Francisquito Canyon, about 5 miles northeast of what is now Magic Mountain, California. 1111 of S.47, 116th Congress 2019 HB2801 - Gold Badge Awarded to Officer Thornton Edwards, 1928. San Francisquito Canyon is a canyon created through erosion of the Sierra Pelona Mountains by the San Francisquito Creek, in Los Angeles County, Southern California. Newhall Morgue March 1928, FILM: Fox News Footage: Nighttime Recovery of Bodies 3-17-1928, Memorialization and Memory of Southern California's St. Francis Dam Disaster of 1928 Master's Thesis by Ann C. Stansell, CSUN 2014. It happened at San Francisquito Canyon Road and Riverview Road in Saugus. San Francisquito Canyon Rd , Santa Clarita, CA 91390 is a vacant lot listed for-sale at $120,000. St. Francis Dam Disaster. It catastrophically failed in 1928 due to a defective soil foundation and design flaws, triggering a flood that claimed the lives of at least 431 people. The property had been in foreclosure at least twice, once in 1996 and again a month before the fire. HC2804 - Face of the St. Francis Dam, 2/1928. Ranch and restaurant owner Gladys F. Phillips is the woman seated at the bar in the interior photos (per Lynda Deem Burke; see below). 2 were invited there several times when I was growing up at No. his name and the address of his Hollywood studio appear on the back of related contact sheets. "Breaking of the St. Francis Dam" 78 RPM Record | by John Hutchens (J. McGhee), 3-25-1928. Your tax-deductible financial support keeps our stories free to read, instead of hidden behind paywalls. A tractor removes loose metal parts from the bridge after California Highway Patrol cleared two big rig trucks stuck on the bridge about three miles into San Francisquito Canyon Road on Thursday . (Photo via Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection) On its way to the ocean, a full 54 miles away from where the dam once stood, the wave devastated the towns of Castaic, Saugus, Bardsdale, Saticoy, Santa Paula, Piru and Fillmore. At its height, nearly 1000 people had moved to this colony established by Job Harriman, who dreamed of cooperative living without war or interest on money or rent or land or profiteering. Life was difficult here and the colony virtually crumbled in 1918. Annual SCVHS St. Francis Dam Disaster Tour (Photos) 3-11-2017. This building, Power Plant #2, is one of two electrical generating stations in the canyon, that derives hydroelectric power from the Los Angeles aqueduct pipes buried underground in the canyon. The Night of the Flood: The Failure of the Saint Francis Dam by Paul H. Rippens, 1998. engineering failures due to ethics Affordable auto transport rates Menu what happened to skittles crazy cores. The information presented is posted as submitted by each reporting public employer. If you want to get a real feel for the lives and experiences of those who settled here in the 1800s and early 1900s, these historic ruins in Southern California let you take a few steps into the past. You may also go to www.ladwp.com/outages 23:03 - 23:10 because thousands of people rushed with their tin cups to drink the water. (Photo via Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection) Mulholland took immediate responsibility for the disaster, saying, famously, how "Whether it is good or bad, don't blame anyone else, you just fasten it on me. See all photos from Paolo H. for St. Francis Dam-Ruins of Collapsed Dam Useful 10 (Matt Tinoco/LAist) A five minute drive past Power Plant #2 is a gravelly turnoff from where you may park. LW2839 - L.A. Aqueduct Construction Equipment, Owens Valley, 1908-1913. ", Carol Rising Longo, daughter of St. Francis Dam worker and survivor Ray E. Rising, has similar memories (pers. Instead of building dam in Big Tujunga Canyon, he chose instead to build one in San Francisquito Canyon. Over the next six hours, the wave would wash over several towns and settlements in its path on its 54 mile journey to the Pacific Ocean. Knauber (Hart Class of 1968) said his mother owned the property about four years; he left for college before she sold it. An estimated 37.5 square of farmland was swept away. Construction began in 1908, with the approval of another $24.5 million bond paid for by Californian and Eastern investors, and finished ahead of schedule and under budget in 1913. 40422 San Francisquito Canyon Rd was last sold on Nov 1, 2021 for $1,135,000 (9% lower than the asking price of $1,250,000). While the aqueduct was under construction, Mulholland began investigating potential sites to build a large reservoir. 1928. 2, March 1928 (Oversized). The dam reached a height of 205 feet and a width of 1,300 feet when the concrete barrier, a key piece of Los Angeles chief water engineer William Mulholland's water system that transformed the city into what it is today, was completed two years later. Both remain in-use today. St. Francis Dam DisasterIn The News AL3043b - St. Francis Flood Damage, Santa Paula, March 1928. Sold - 39210 San Francisquito Canyon Rd, Santa Clarita, CA - $398,000. LW2944 - Ruins of St. Francis Dam (Wing Dyke & Tombstone), View Into Reservoir, 1928-29. AL2024 - St. Francis Dam Before the Break, circa March 1928. In his own words, he was seeking silence and peace when he moved his family to this harsh and remote. 2017 - Film: 'Big Surf' by Brian Smee GR0812 - Gold Mining on the LeBrun Ranch, 1890s. LW2845 - Correspondence from Man at Brand-New Power House No. View 48 photos of this 6 bed, 4 bath, 3774 sqft. from The New York Times: He has been jolted awake before dawn by jackhammers and screeching delivery trucks. The Washington times. Gladys had a palomino horse named Baby that I learned to ride on. AL3042 - St. Francis Dam Failure, Real Photo Postcard, Ruins of the Dam, April 13, 1928. 1928 titled 'Destruction of a Dam', depicting the dam break via miniatures and also showing footage of the aftermath and rescue operations. The St. Francis Dam in San Francisquito Canyon, about 40 miles northwest of Los Angeles, collapsed just before midnight on March 12, 1928. Coroner's Inquest in the News: Witnesses Report Leaks News reports, 1928. Media related to San Francisquito Canyon at Wikimedia Commons. LW2502 - Los Angeles Aqueduct in Placerita Canyon, 2 Views, 2013. 2x2-inch negatives from the Watson Archive. The State Controller's Office is not responsible for the accuracy of this information. Investigators mill around the base of the collapsed dam. San Francisquito Canyon Road was built to go right past the dam site through the canyon, past all of the rubble, but it was washed out in the early 2000s by rain, and thereafter decommissioned, replaced by a rerouted new road. LW2983 - Souvenir Water (Bottle) from Opening of L.A. Aqueduct (11-5-1913), Multiple Views. 39018 San Francisquito Canyon Rd is a house currently priced at $649,900, which is 17.2% less than its original list price of 784900. 0 Vac/Sierra Hwy Pav /Vic Mi, Agua Dulce, CA 91350. here. One of the buildings, an 1865 cottage is thought to be the oldest remaining stone building in Malibu. The mine only operated for two years and, along with the mine itself, the kilns were abandoned. VIDEO: St. Francis Dam: What Led To Its Failure? RO2801 - Temporary Reconstruction of Auto Bridge Over Santa Clara River at Castaic Junction, 1928. HC2805 - Tombstone & Fallen Section, 1928. LW2100c - St. Francis Dam: Ruins at Base, 3-11-2001. I love a good case of adaptive reuse. 5) Failing St. Francis: Water Pressure or Political Pressure? 1994 - Charles Outland: Man-Made Disaster: The Story of St. Francis Dam, VIDEO: ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE / FILM CLIPS LW2642 - St. Francis Dam Disaster: Ruins, 17 Views, Ex-San Francisco PUC Archives, ~3-13-1928. LW3703 - Photo: San Francisquito Creek Flows with St. Francis Floodwaters, 3-13-1928. Doors and windows were nailed shut, the pool was empty and needed new filters (which were stored in a manmade cave in the hillside), dozens of peacocks roamed the ranch because the aviary was wrecked, and the side house needed extensive repair. Mulholland inspected the dam, ordered some patchwork fixes to be built, and signed off on the dam's structural sanctity. "St. Francis Dam Disaster" CD Cover | by Frank Black (Black Francis), 2001. AP2330 - St. Francis Dam Under Construction, 1924-1926. AP1313 - Lopez Station, 2 Views, ~1890 (Razed for Aqueduct ~1910). Mismanagement, Sloppy Hiring Practices, Lack Of Transparency. Saying that Mulholland "walked on water" in 1920s Los Angeles would be an understatement. Driving Directions to the St. Francis Dam Site. On its opening day, March 18, 1917, the unassuming beige facility was the first power plant of the Los Angeles Bureau of Power and Light (later the LADWP) to service the City of Los Angeles. HS7067 - SoCal Edison Saugus Substation After the Flood, March 1928. View details, map and photos of this single family property with 2 bedrooms and 2 total baths. Video: Man-Made Disaster: The Story of St. Francis Dam Narrated by Frank Rock, SCVTV 2009. One of these was Lillian Curtis Eiler, who recalled after the fact that she and her husband awakened just seconds before the water came. "Phil (Phillips) did build the ranch to be a resort," Knauber said. AL2021 - St. Francis Dam Disaster, Flood Victims Crossing River, March 1928. The camp was previously used as a Los . 1 sometimes to swim in the big pond there. The force of the water and debris was so powerful, it twisted a stretch of railroad track between Castaic Junction and Piru. Thank you for investing in your neighborhood. "(Charles Deem) sold some of the property between the two ranches to Gladys." LW3695 - Illustrator's Concept of St. Francis Dam Disaster La Domenica del Corriere (Milan, Italy), 3-25-1928. Mural by Corie Mattie at Hype Fitness, Silverlake, Copyright Sandi Hemmerlein / AvoidingRegret.com 2006-2022. The ranch property is shaded yellow; the green lines are property lines. The Phillips Ranch was located at GPS coordinates 3434'02.6"N 11828'04.8"W (34.567390, -118.468002) in Baird Canyon, an offshoot of San Francisquito Canyon, 4.4 road miles north of Stator Lane (the LADWP Powerhouse 2 community) on the southeast side of San Francisquito Canyon Road. William Mulholland: Father of the Los Angeles Municipal Water Supply System, Historical Society's Dam Marker Placed, Stolen, 1978; State Marker Placed, 1979, Report to Arizona Gov. Beds. Bob Gregory, 62, went missing the same day as Sands. HB2803 - Visiting the "Tombstone," Reservoir Side, ~1928. The restaurant continued to be listed in the local 1969 phone book but had already been shuttered. . Construction of the St. Francis Dam began on March 9th, 1925. The kids from No. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, March 19, 1928, Page 7, Image 7, brought to you by Library of Congress, Washington, DC, and the National Digital Newspaper Program. 2010 - Katy Moffatt (Music Video): The St. Francis Dam Disaster (at 09:10) Between 1924 and 1926, the canyon was the site of the construction of the St. Francis Dam. 2003 - Witness Ivan Dorsett (Brother of Lillian Curtis) "Gladys said it was very popular for quite a while, having a pool, a restaurant, an aviary, a shooting range, deer and quail hunting, horse back riding and far enough away to limit uninvited law enforcement.". The photographer is identified as Bob Martin; his name and the address of his Hollywood studio appear on the back of related contact sheets. One key feature of the property was the Phillips Ranch Restaurant, which was a large, two-story, cinder-block building that stood next to Phillips' own home and well-used swimming pool. Trees and power lines toppled, cars and houses crushed under branches, and . OV2401 - Newhall Land Letter to Mulholland Re: Water Rights, 8-22-1924. Every Saturday night they would keep the opera house open all night and . 2010 - Raw Oral History: Thelma McCawley Shaw, Dam Survivor (Barely)