As the community marks the 88th anniversary of the St. Francis Dam disaster, the Santa Clarita Historical Society will host an informative lecture and a guided tour of the dam site on Saturday, March 12.
The tour will begin with a presentation about the disaster at 11 a.m. in the freight room of the Saugus Train Station in Heritage Junction-Hart Park, 24101 Newhall Ave.
At noon, ticketed passengers will board a motor coach for a trip up to the dam site in San Francisquito Canyon and a hike to the dam ruins.
The tour includes approximately 1 mile walk and steep uphill hike at dam site. Participants should wear long pants and comfortable hiking shoes. Water will be provided.
Tickets are $35 per person for all ages and include lecture, snacks, and bus transportation. $5 discount available to those who sign up as new Historical Society member.
Funds raised will benefit programs of the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society.
Tickets may be reserved by calling (661) 254-1275 with credit card and contact information.Or purchase online via PayPal at www.scvhs.org.
For more information on this and other upcoming programs from the SCVHS, please call 661-254-1275.
Just before midnight on the evening of March 12, 1928, William Mulholland’s majestic St. Francis Dam suffered a massive collapse, causing a wall of water to travel some 55 miles to the Pacific Ocean and killing up to 431 people in the second-worst disaster in California history after the San Francisco earthquake and fire 22 years earlier.
The St. Francis Dam was completed in 1926. Legendary Los Angeles water chief William Mulholland was greatly responsible for building the dam, which turned out to be flawed both in design and in geologic location.
Soon after the reservoir reached full capacity in March 1928, it collapsed and sent a 180-foot-high wall of water cascading down San Francisquito Canyon and into the Santa Clara River Valley. Mulholland took full responsibility for the disaster and was never the same after that. He died in 1935 a broken man.
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