St. Francis Dam Disaster

Countdown to the 100th Anniversary

The Saint Francis Dam failed at

11:57:30 P.M. March 12, 1928

Directions to the parking area/meeting spot for Monday night March 12th.

Directions to the site by Mr. Johnson using the relocated San Francisquito Canyon Road.
These directions are shortest possible route to reach the top of the West Wing Dike.

Google directions to the site .

Ignore the last left turn, park near the road closed signs and barrier on your right and walk south down the old SFC road.

Directions to the site by Mr. Johnson
These directions describe how to reach the site before the road was damaged by the floods of December 2004.
Directions: From Santa Clarita Valley History In Pictures
The warning at the top of the page is no longer in effect.

The Saint Francis Dam, circa. 1927


The Saint Francis Dam, March 13, 1928

It was in 1967 when I chose a book from the school library about great disasters in history. I don't remember the name of the book but found it interesting reading. The author wrote of great earthquakes, floods, storms, shipwrecks and fires. There was a small article about a disaster in California involving a dam collapse and the resulting flood. The author wrote five paragraphs describing the disaster and mentioned its name only once. After finishing the book the irony of such a great disaster only receiving barely two pages of notice inspired me to look deeper into the story. I found only several more brief accounts about the event when searching the local library. The account of the this disaster and it's forgotten story remained with me, flickering occasionally in my memory throughout high school and college. Twenty three years later I moved to California and several months after unpacking rode my motorcycle to San Francisquito Canyon looking for the St. Francis Dam. I found it. Well, I found the remains of the dam, as huge pieces of concrete strewn along the canyon floor. Something else was discovered about the disaster that day. No one that I asked about the location of the dam or the dam's failure knew anything about it.

An epic poem about the tragedy was written in 1979 by Ron Pinkerton which is both historically accurate and emotionally moving.

"The St. Francis Dam Disaster" by Ron Pinkerton

Mr. Pinkerton's website: "The Desert Gallery" at dejavue.us.

Here are some of the best links on the internet.

Failure of The St. Francis Dam by Dr. J David Rogers

Photos of San Francisquito Canyon and the Dam: Before and After, plus a documentary video of the disaster.

Excellent Summary of the Disaster

Grim Society Interview: Dr. J. David Rogers on the St. Francis Dam Disaster

Timeline of the Flood

Bringing Water To Los Angeles:

A Guidebook To The Los Angeles Aqueduct And The Eastern Sierrra Nevada

NPR - Anniversary of Second-Worst Disaster in California History


My research has discovered many articles about the Saint Francis Dam.

Links to some of these articles are listed below.

An Odd Theory The Floods Toll

Water is Receding Newspaper Page (.pdf file)

Aftermath and Cleanup Unsafe Dams

30 Years Later Magazine Article

Thomas Clement's Account of his Survival
There are several pieces of music written about the Saint Francis Dam.

Frank Black and the Catholics - "St. Francis Dam Disaster"

The Collapse of Saint Francis - Bear McCreary

For further reading on the St, Francis Dam the following books are suggested.

Man-Made Disaster: The Story of St Francis Dam by Charles F Outland

This is a reprinting of the original (1977 edition) book written by Outland in the 1960's.

St. Francis Dam Disaster Revisited [ILLUSTRATED] by Doyce B. Nunis Jr.

The St. Francis Dam Disaster Revisited features the detailed modern geological assessments of J. David Rogers, the foremost forensic authority on the dam's collapse. It also contains articles by Catherine Mulholland, Abraham Hoffman, and Charles Johnson--the latter a 26-page photo essay on the aftermath of the disaster. Out of print since 1996, it is now available through the Historical Society of Southern California

Man-made disaster: The story of St. Francis Dam : its place in Southern California's water system, its failure, and the tragedy... by Charles F Outland

The original book detailing the dam's failure. Outland was a high school student living in Santa Paula in 1928 and gathered information for many decades. This book was originally published in 1963, only 1,000 copies, with a second edition printed in 1977.

St. Francis Dam Disaster (Images of America) by John Nichols

Over 200 images of the devastation caused by the flood, and the heroic efforts of residents and rescue workers. Images of the washed-out bridges, destroyed homes and buildings, Red Cross workers giving aid, and the massive clean-up that followed.