Access to this collection is generously supported by Arcadia funds. The St. Francis Dam was a 200-foot high concrete gravity-arch dam built between 1924 and 1926 in St. Francisquito Canyon (near present-day Castaic and Santa Clarita). The dam collapsed on March 12, 1928 at two and a half minutes before midnight. The resulting flood killed more than 600 residents plus an unknown number of itinerant farm workers camped in San Francisquito Canyon, making it the 2nd greatest loss of life in California after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. It is considered the worst American civil engineering failure in the 20th century. Flooded road, lined with power utility poles, and surrounding area after the flood water had subsided following the failure of the Saint Francis Dam. A man stands on a dry patch of land next to a police man standing on the running board of an automobile. On either side of the road are open fields with a few small buildings in the distance. A billboard sign advertising a brand of cigar reads "Foiled For You, El Sidelo, 10¢, Also, 2 for 25¢." Text from negative sleeve: Saint Francis Dam
Type
image
Format
b&w nitrate negative
Identifier
uclamss_1429_1844 ark:/21198/zz002dcqjd
Language
No linguistic content
Subject
Floods--California--Santa Clara River Valley Billboards--California--Ventura County Saint Francis Dam Failure, Calif., 1928
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