The Mulholland Dam (named after Water Superintendent William Mulholland, who is also the namesake of Mulholland Drive) sits in Weid Canyon north of Whitley Heights and northeast of the Hollywood Bowl. Construction began on April 1, 1923. This photo was taken ten months later on February 2, 1924 when the curve of the dam had taken shape. It was such a massive project that it wouldn’t be completed until April 14, 1925.
The dam is still there, but the water in the reservoir is no longer distributed to Angelenos. Instead, it’s now a popular walking/hiking/jogging/dog-walking area. This January 2020 satellite image shows us that most of the dam’s wall has now been covered with so much dirt and trees that you can barely see it. And maybe that’s the point. Here in earthquake country, the prospect of being downwind from a huge dam might be psychologically unnerving!
Exactly. The dirt and trees were brought in to make the dam less conspicuous after the St Francis Dam disaster a few years later. Mullholland built both dams.
Thought it was San Francisquito? Yeah, I’d be nervous living beneath a Mulholland-designed dam!
Well, you sure got me on this one and broadened my horizons. Born and grew up in Los Angeles and the SFV, I can’t say I ever knew of or visited the Mulholland Dam.
You should take a walk around it. The last time I did that, the winding path took 1 3/4 hours to complete the full loop. (Full disclosure: I was with someone who is a bit of a slow walker.)
Is the water behind the dam distributed to anyone?
It used to be, but I read somewhere that after 9/11 there was a fear that the water would be poisoned, so it no longer is.