Access to this collection is generously supported by Arcadia funds. View of 4 men working on a flood-damaged section of railroad track with long wrenches after the failure of the Saint Francis Dam. The Santa Paula branch line of the Southern Pacific was almost totally destroyed. 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. Text from newspaper caption: Graphic Views of Flood-swept Area Near Castaic After Dam Break: Flood-twisted Track at Castaic on Santa Paula-Montalvo Branch of Southern Pacific. (Times photo) [Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 1928: 4] Text from negative sleeve: Saint Francis Dam
Type
image
Format
b&w nitrate negative
Identifier
uclamss_1429_1851 ark:/21198/zz002dcqs1
Language
No linguistic content
Subject
Disaster Transportation Saint Francis Dam Failure, Calif., 1928 Weather Railroad tracks--California--Santa Clara River Valley Dam failures--California--San Francisquito Canyon Flood damage--California--Santa Clara River Valley
If you're wondering about permissions and what you can do with this item, a good starting point is the "rights information" on this page. See our terms of use for more tips.
Share your story
Has Calisphere helped you advance your research, complete a project, or find something meaningful? We'd love to hear about it; please send us a message.
