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.
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.
Eleven children, 4 women and a dog, displaced by the flood resulting from the Saint Francis Dam failure, stand outside a tent. Printed on the tent above the doorway is "160 / P.75." beneath an image of crossed rifles.
View of 5 women of Mexican heritage cooking in a tent in a flood relief camp after the failure of the Saint Francis Dam. Two women stir pots on portable gas burners on a wooden table, another woman makes tortillas on a portable gas griddle on the table as 2 young women watch. On a table behind the women is a large metal container of lard and a box of Blue Cross Table Salt is on the table next to the griddle.
Group portrait of a frightened little girl, standing with her hands clasped in front of her, next to another girl who looks at her with her mouth open in concern, who grasps the hand of a toddler girl next to her, who grasps the hand of a taller girl next to her (head not in photograph frame), and a smaller toddler girl (half in the photograph frame). The group is in front of a row of tents in a relief camp for people who were displaced by the flood following the failure of the Saint Francis Dam..
View of 2 nurses and a Red Cross volunteer aiding 3 young children and a baby in a clinic that was set up to care for people who survived the flood following the failure of the Saint Francis Dam. The nurses and volunteers are in a large room, seated on beds tending the children and infant. The room is divided into section s by curtains and there are 2 cribs in the background.
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.
View of 11 men and 4 children standing outside of tents in a relief camp for people who were displaced by the flood following the failure of the Saint Francis Dam. About 17 tents are visible, with a wooden building the center and mountains in the background.
Five children in beds lined up against a wall in a dormitory after the flood caused by the failure of the Saint Francis Dam. A Red Cross volunteer stands next to one of the beds and pictures to occupy the children are lined up on the wall above the beds.
