ROSTER of St. Francis Dam Victims Ann Stansell, 2-22-2014, St. Francis: Death & Disability Claims & Claimants (NAMES) 7-15-1929, Transcript of Coroner's Inquest, Vols. Video broadcast Tuesday Feb. 1, 2021 on the NBC4 News. MF2601 - Walking Across Top of St. Francis Dam, 1926-1928. Before it broke, the dam was a instrumental component of the long and windy chain of infrastructure that moved drinkable water from the Owens River Valley, in Inyo County, to the mushrooming city, 233 miles to the south, known as Los Angeles. AS2802 - Survey Map: Flood-damaged Properties, San Francisquito Canyon, 1928. HS2808 - (Formerly) Last Photo of the St. Francis Dam Intact, 3-9-1928. 3 Minutes to Midnight at the Dam Jim Harris, 3-13-2018. The Chief Doesn't Deserve Ridicule for St. Francis Commentary by Pony Horton, 4-26-1998. Forgotten Casualties: CSUN Prof Hopes to Tell the Human Stories of St. Francis Dam Disaster CSUN 11-4-2013. After the fire, the former restaurant building was vandalized by drug users. Total Wages: Total wages reported by the employer from Box 5 of the W-2, with some exceptions, and Elected Officials who received pay reported on IRS Form 1099. "William Mulholland" Presides Over L.A. Aqueduct Cascades Centennial LADWP, 11-5-2013. LW2743 - St. Francis Dam Floodpath, about a mile below the dam. When he testified at the coroner's inquest, Mulholland said, "I envy the dead.". HS2809 - St. Francis Dam Shortly Before Its Collapse. AS2804 - List of Employees' Automobiles Wrecked in Edison Camp at Kemp, LADWP Archive. (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. For the latest national news from NPR and our live radio broadcast, visit LAist.com/radio. Residents and workers near the dam, including damkeeper Tony Harnischfeger, noticed problems from the start. 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. 32300 San Francisquito Canyon Rd, Santa Clarita, CA 91390, USA. Old ruins are one of the best ways to take a peek into the past. Llano del Rio is the abandoned site of socialist commune in the early 1900s. Click to enlarge. The mine only operated for two years and, along with the mine itself, the kilns were abandoned. Spent many days riding horses and swimming at that ranch. The man-made flood marks the second-largest loss of life in a single disaster in California. 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. The Los Angeles Aqueduct (Map and Facts) Bullock's Advertisement, L.A. Times, 3-8-1926. Though cracks in and leakage from the dam were reported as the water level began to rise, civil engineersand Mulholland himselfinspected and signed off on the cracks and leaks as normal for a dam of the St. Francis' size and type. Who Designed the Ill-Fated St. Francis Dam? Francisquito Conservation Camp, CC#4, under the administrative supervision of Sierra Conservation Center (SCC) was opened in October 1981. The home was at one time featured in Architectural Digest, but is now in ruins after a fire destroyed it. RI1301 - Harrison Gray Otis & Ellen Beach Yaw at L.A. Aqueduct Grand Opening, 11-5-1913. DI2819 - (2) Tourist Photos of the Tombstone with Ladder, 1928 (Sharon Divis collection). 28774 San Francisquito Canyon Rd, Santa Clarita, CA 91390 is for sale. The camp is jointly operated by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and the Los Angeles County Fire Department (LAC). LW2845 - Correspondence from Man at Brand-New Power House No. California is not generally considered a particularly old place, but believe it or not, this state is full of history. DR2813 - St. Francis Dam: West Abutment & Wing Dyke, March? The middle and upper portions of this canyon fall within the Angeles National Forest. Mulholland inspected the dam, ordered some patchwork fixes to be built, and signed off on the dam's structural sanctity. 2 in the 1950s a couple of times for swim parties, once for a Halloween Party, and once for a picnic. (Matt Tinoco/LAist) A five minute drive past Power Plant #2 is a gravelly turnoff from where you may park. Click here for historic photos of the St. Francis Dam and the aftermath of its collapse. "(Charles Deem) sold some of the property between the two ranches to Gladys." 2x2-inch negatives from the Watson Archive. At 11:57 pm on March 12, 1928, the dam catastrophically failed, and the resulting flood took the lives of at least 431 people. This is an archival story that predates current editorial management. Hidden behind a chain-link fence, the California Historic Landmark plaque compresses the history of the dam to a couple rusty paragraphs. LW2574 - Woman at St. Francis Dam With Water in Forebay, 1927. HC2801 - Dam: Plugging Leak with Sloppy Cement, 2/1928. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click LW2642 - St. Francis Dam Disaster: Ruins, 17 Views, Ex-San Francisco PUC Archives, ~3-13-1928. DI2806 - Crowds Flock to the St. Francis Dam Tombstone, 1928 (Sharon Divis collection). The empty reservoir after the dam's collapse. $368,888. FILM: Wreckage, Red Cross Relief Center, more 3-14-1928. Mulholland believed a large reservoir geographically close to Los Angeles would be necessary to maintain the city's water supply in the event of an extended drought in the Owens Valley, or an earthquake that rendered the aqueduct unable to move water from north to south. 1926 - Dam Under Construction in 'The Temptress' (Greta Garbo) We would love to hear from you. World's (Then-) Largest-Diameter Concrete Pipe Installed in Whitney Canyon News reports, February 1910. FILM: Pathe Newsreel Footage of Broken St. Francis Dam and Story of Pilot Who Died Getting It, 3-13-1928. The St. Francis Dam Break Lyrics by Dan DeVere & Jane Williams 3-9-2003. 1 Under Construction, 11-1-1915. Ft. 28619 Apricot Pl, Saugus, CA 91390. LW2418 - L.A. Aqueduct Construction Crew with Dredger, 1910. San Francisquito Canyon's St. Francis Dam burst on March 12th,1928, sending twelve billion gallons of water through the canyon. Remove Ads. The 12 MW capacity Unit 4 turbine is also an original, first installed within the plant in 1923. 2017). Jun 4, 2022. The diverted portion of Old San Francisquito Canyon Road rejoins with the section that's open to traffic a couple of miles down from the dam site, and just a few feet from Power Plant #2. Though he had signed off on the dam as structurally sound the day before, the words he said while reaching for the phone early in the morning"Please, God. While the total number of dead is unknown, estimates place the number somewhere between 450 and 600 people. Mulholland's chief assistant declared there was no threat from the leak following the inspection. AP1925 - L.A. Aqueduct Construction Camp/HQ at Saugus Junction, 1911. March 5, 1964 Phillips Ranch in San Francisquito Canyon. Though the rock appeared stable, it was ultimately not strong enough to hold back 12.4 billion gallons of water. One Aqueduct Worker Beats, Robs Another at Saugus News reports, February 1910. Mulholland, as well as his number two engineer Harvey Van Norman, inspected the dam and determined that though the new leak should be remedied quickly, it did not pose a threat to the safety of the thousands living in the dam's hypothetical flood path should it fail. DI2816 - Unidentified Person Climbs the St. Francis Dam Tombstone, 1928. Mapped in 1910-11. 2017 - Alan Pollack, Dianne Erskine-Hellrigel: St. Francis Dam Lecture Original Camp History. 2 Under Construction, ~1920. LW2715 - Dam Victims' Bodies Fill Newhall's Masonic (Hap-A-Lan) Hall, 2 Views, March 1928. SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (KABC) -- Three men died and two people were injured in a fiery crash in Santa Clarita, officials say. The dam was located in the San Francisquito Canyon, about 5 miles northeast of what is now Magic Mountain, California. In the face of a drier future, that iconic piece of Americana is on its way out in Southern California. to report a power outage. 427 - Engrossed in House No. Why? The canyon grows wider as it approaches the Santa Clarita Valley. HS7050 - Photo Gallery: Bardsdale-Fillmore-Santa Paula Flood Damage, March 1928. ID2101 - Lyman & Lillian Curtis, St. Francis Dam Victims, 1921. 2015 - Press Conf. LW2479 - Red Cross Relief: Shelters, Soup Lines, Nurses, Hospital. L.A. County Assessor parcel map: County aerial map 2014. DI2801 - St. Francis Flood Damage: Upended SP Train Track, 1928. The restaurant continued to be listed in the local 1969 phone book but had already been shuttered. Firefighters put out the deadly vehicle fire, the California Highway Patrol reported, and according to NBC Los Angeles, three people were killed.. 117-58 (07/01/2021) $441,500 Last Sold Price. Onlookers watch the swollen Santa Clara River sweep debris towards the Pacific Ocean. This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). 2017 - Film: 'Big Surf' by Brian Smee The Mystery of the Lost Raggio Gold, News reports 1912-1914. His work at the beginning consisted largely of digging ditches and laying down iron pipe to transport water from the Los Angeles River, to other neighborhoods around the city, but Mulholland's ingenuity and wry brilliance for water engineering meant he quickly became one of the city's lead watermen. Dana Knauber remembers (pers. LW3083 - Ruins of St. Francis Dam & Empty Reservoir, George Watson Photo, March 1928. 1940s, Found 10-15-2013. St. Francis Dam: One Family's Ordeal by David Desmond Gazette, July-August 2006. White House Tales of Scandal & Intrigue. 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. Saying that Mulholland "walked on water" in 1920s Los Angeles would be an understatement. Of course, rapidly expanding Los Angeles was becoming thirstier and thirstier. A city electric employee, Ace Hopewell, rode his motorcycle past the dam about 10 minutes before it collapsed. Newhall Morgue, FILM: Fox News Footage: Nighttime Recovery of Bodies, Memorialization and Memory of Southern California's St. Francis Dam Disaster of 1928, St. Francis Dam Disaster: Tracing the Human Story Through Archaeology and Oral History, News Story: CSUN Grad Student Memorializes Victims of 1928 St. Francis Dam Disaster, Engineer Suggests Ancient Landslide was Factor in Disaster, The 1928 St. Francis Dam Failure and Its Impact on American Civil Engineering. LW2514 - L.A. Aqueduct Centennial Garden Opens at Mulholland Memorial Fountain, 10-23-2013. On April 16 and April 28, 1917, Units 2 and 3 were placed in operation bringing the facilitys capacity up to 28 MW, enough for about 20,000 homes. 2023 Southern California Public Radio - All Rights Reserved, Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection, working its way through the machinery of government, Southern California's Snow-Capped Mountains Are Beautiful. 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. 2017) that the restaurant had been closed for a number of years when his mother, Jeanne Motan, bought the property from Gladys Phillips in the 1968-1970 period. Zestimate Home Value: $398,000. There was nothing resembling an advanced warning system, which might have provided residents downstream from the rush of water with time to evacuate. 35554-35570 San Francisquito Canyon Road Santa Clarita, California, 91390 United States 34.5469, -118.5125 engineering failures due to ethics Affordable auto transport rates Menu what happened to skittles crazy cores. The power plant underwent a significant remodel in 1982 and now has four total generators, Unit 1, Unit 3, Unit 4 and Unit 5 producing more than 70 MW of installed capacity. Photo credit: Wikipedia/Kbh3rd. Click to enlarge or download original scan. 2023. It roughly parallels the river's course between San Francisquito Pass and its southern terminus in the northern Santa Clarita Valley.