Just when I thought the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority couldn’t possibly find another way to damage or destroy the history at Mentryville, they have found just that – another way.

Mentryville is the “ghost town” west of Newhall, up Pico Canyon Road about five miles from downtown Newhall. At one time it was the center of oil drilling and production in California and indeed all places west of Pennsylvania.

Upwards of 100 families lived there between 1876 and maybe 1935. As the wells dried, families moved out and houses did, too. Now all that is left is a big barn, tack building and tin garage; the 13-room, 4,000-square-foot “Pico Cottage” (Mr. Mentry’s home, built around 1892); and the little Felton school house from 1885.

As you walk up the canyon, you’ll see the foundation for the bakery operated by Mr. Cochems. Word has it, he made the best coconut macaroon cookies in all of California. Might not be a fact, but I have had some cookies made to his recipe, and they were some of the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating.

Continue up the canyon a little more, nearly a mile from the Pico Cottage, and you’ll come to Johnson Park.

Photos by Stan Walker

From the earliest days of the little company town, it was a place the residents could gather to play badminton, throw some horseshoes, play a little poker, dance to a local band and enjoy some really great cooking in the picnic area. I’ve enjoyed many wonderful employee picnics and gatherings at Johnson Park.

I hope all y’all are sitting down when you read this.

The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority has requested that the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approve the establishment of an “At-risk Youth Facility Project” at Mentryville’s Johnson Park.

The youth facility was originally located in East Canyon, but because the housing facility – an old motel – was damaged by fire, the MRCA has requested the project be moved.

Oh, they accomplished the environmental survey of the new location. According to a government report, the project is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act for reasons stated in the report. Funny, I can’t find those reasons in the report.

So an environmental study was conducted and the recommendation was to move the facility. I don’t know what environmental group from MRCA did the study, but I’d bet it was the same folks who allow a Roundup-type of herbicide to be used for brush abatement in the old town.

You know, it isn’t only the environment of the land that we have to be concerned with. I well remember the 1962 wildfire that started in Hasley Canyon north of Highway 126 and burned all the way to the San Fernando Valley. It went through the lower end of Mentryville and Pico Canyon. The fire line stopped in the west at the old bakery.

The writer poses with an early replica oil derrick in Johnson Park – the only one left in the historic town.

Anyway, should a fire occur when those at-risk youth are at Johnson Park, there isn’t any way out. Been through fires there, and let me tell you, they move fast.

Just who is going to tell the folks at MRCA what is important historically and what isn’t? Considering what they have done to the existing buildings in Mentryville, I’m very concerned that nothing will remain. I mean really, the MRCA folks had a paint expert tell me the barn and schoolhouse were originally painted red. (The red paint was from 1976.) Up until then, all of the buildings were gray. Buff Navy battleship gray.

One other little thing, Mentryville is a California State Historic Landmark. That means the whole canyon from the gate to the top of PCO Hill. And the MRCA wants to have an at-risk youth program there?

The way they have let film crews damage the Pico Cottage and other parts of the property tells us they lack the capacity to determine the historic value of anything in Mentryville.

Now I can tell you why the MRCA wants this to happen. They like the money. $250,000 in grant funds are allocated for the project. In total more than $3 million from a park bond has been awarded to the MRCA for “gang prevention” programs. Yep, the MRCA loves figures with all of those zeros before the decimal point.

What does all this mean? Well, the folks on the west side of the I-5, like Stevenson Ranch, Southern Oaks and so on, are going to have new neighbors. Historical places will be destroyed, and the MRCA gets a boatload of money.

There are better ways to do this folks. Please, call or write the Board of Supervisors to stop this deal. This is a bad deal. It is bad for our local history, and in reality it is bad for the environment. It places Pico Canyon at risk for increased fire danger, too. All of the critters there will have to adjust to the increased human traffic.

Stand by for more information. In my case, they not only are messing with history, but they are also messing with my hometown. You see, once I was the only kid in Mentryville.

Darryl Manzer grew up in the Pico Canyon oil town of Mentryville in the 1960s and attended Hart High School. After a career in the U.S. Navy he returned to live in the Santa Clarita Valley, where he serves as executive director of the SCV Historical Society. He can be reached at dmanzer@scvhistory.com. His older commentaries are archived at DManzer.com; his newer commentaries can be accessed [here]. Watch his walking tour of Mentryville [here].