St. Francis Dam Disaster

National Monument & Memorial

(USFS)

California

Authorized: March 12, 2019

440 acres

U. S. Forest Service (Angeles National Forest)

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Francis_Dam

"The John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act, signed March 12, 2019, authorizes the establishment of the Saint Francis Dam Disaster National Memorial and Saint Francis Dam Disaster National Monument. The two areas will be administered by the United States Forest Service within Angeles National Forest to commemorate the collapse of the dam and preserve 353 acres of land for recreation and protection of resources."

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Trump's signature means St. Francis Dam memorial is comingPresident Donald Trump signed legislation to bring a memorial for a deadly disaster at The St. Francis Dam that killed more than 450 people.

Trump approves five national monuments – from black history to dinosaur bonesThe new sites created by a sweeping public lands bill have been years in the making – here’s our guide

St Francis Dam

Location: 40 miles north-west from downtown Los Angeles, California

This curved concrete gravity dam is notorious for a disastrous flood that killed at least 431 people in March 1928. Built by William Mulholland, known as the father of Los Angeles’ municipal water system, the 1,300ft span held a year’s supply for the entire city about 40 miles to the south.

Just before midnight on 12 March the dam fractured, sending a 180ft-high wall of water rushing down the San Francisquito Canyon. In the course of just six hours, the flood caused millions of dollars in damage and destroyed numerous homes, ranches and other properties on its path to the Pacific Ocean.

The dam’s collapse is considered one of the worst civil engineering failures of the 20th century and is the second deadliest tragedy in California’s history, after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire.

Today you can visit the remains of the dam, located off Francisquito Road in Santa Clarita. Large chunks of debris can still be found scattered about the creek bed south of the dam’s original site, while the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society holds tours of the wreckage every March.

Saint Francis Dam Disaster National Memorial and Monument: Angeles National Forest Land Management Plan - Part 2 Administrative Change adding to Appendix A (PDF)

https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd872458.pdf

From SCVNews.com:

The bill would also establish a 440-acre national monument around the area that would be managed by the U.S. Forest Service, and it would authorize the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to establish the memorial through the acceptance of donations. Backers intend to raise funds from the private sector to build and manage a visitors center.

The president’s signature means the U.S. Forest Service now has three years to present Congress with a plan for the memorial. Funds will be raised by a nonprofit foundation.

Harris, Feinstein Submit Bill to Memorialize St. Francis Dam VictimsU.S. Senators Kamala D. Harris and Dianne Feinstein (both D-CA) introduced Thursday the St. Francis Dam Disaster National Memorial Act, legislation which would establish a national memorial to honor the lives of the 1928 St. Francis Dam disaster that claimed the lives of 431 Californians. The Dam disaster was California’s second largest tragedy in terms of lives

On the edge of L.A. lies the remains of an engineering disaster that offers a warning for us todayWhen the St. Francis Dam burst 88 years ago, 12.4 billion gallons of water rose 140 feet, surging 54 miles to the Pacific Ocean.

SCVHistory.com | St. Francis Dam | Video: St. Francis Dam Disaster (History Channel Segment)Searchable history of the Santa Clarita Valley (Los Angeles County) in pictures and text.

St. Francisquito DamSt. Francis Dam California, 91390 Construction on the 600-foot-long, 185-foot-high St. Francis Dam started in August 1924. With a 12.5 billion-gallon capacity, the reservoir began to fill with water on March 1, 1926. The dam was designed and built between 1924 and 1926 by the Los Angeles Department of

St. Francis Dam collapse left a trail of death and destructionThis month marks a grim anniversary in Southern California.

William Mulholland and the St. Francis Dam Disaster

California History

http://ce.jhu.edu/perspectives/handouts_unprotected/stfrancis.pdf

What the Killers Left Us: Tracing the Saint Francis Dam Disaster in a 2017 Porsche 911 Turbo SWilliam Mulholland was a ditch digger turned emperor, an Irish immigrant who presided over the transformation of Los Angeles from a dusty backwater settlement to the tail that wags the golden bear. Monterey Bay had been the first port of major import in California, and its namesake city was its first capital. San Francisco and Sacramento […]