As I mentioned back here, this past weekend a few friends and I went for a little hike in the gorgeous Pacific Palisades. We were in search of Murphy's Ranch. The history of the ranch is a little sketchy and while the best story I could find of what went on there is here, below is what wikipedia has to say about the ranch...
The Murphy Ranch is a ranch built in Rustic Canyon, Los Angeles in the 1930s by Winona and Norman Stephens, who were sympathizers of the Silver Legion of America.The owner of record in 1933 was Jessie M. Murphy. Designed as a base for Nazi activities in the U.S.,it was intended to be capable of being self-sustaining for long periods. The compound had a water storage tank, a fuel tank, a bomb shelter, and various outbuildings and bunkers. The estate's main gate was designed by Paul Williams, a well-known African-American architect in the Southern California area.
On Monday, December 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, local police occupied the compound and detained members of the 50-strong caretaker force.
As of 1990, it was abandoned and in a state of disrepair, and covered in graffiti.The site is currently owned by the city of Los Angeles. As of 2014, the ranch buildings were still standing, despite repeated proposals for their demolition.
Are you hooked?! Further googling encouraged.
The entire place is just fascinating.
Filled with unlimited amounts of graffiti, a shocking number of appliances-we counted 3 tubs and 1 stove, the rotten framework of a shed or 'tetanus filled playground' as we called it, everywhere you turned there was something to see, climb on and ponder over. Personally, my favorite item was the over turned Volkswagon. I laughed out-loud when I saw it.
In no particular order, here are a few of my photos from that day.
Hiked and Haunted,
Kate
P.S. For anyone who wants to do the hike, I highly recommend researching where to start as the entrance was well hidden. There is also an incredibly steep staircase of over 500 steps that drops you from the side of the road to the bottom of the canyon.
No comments:
Post a Comment