LAUREL CANYON—Have you noticed that the Laurel Canyon traffic over Mulholland and into the city has become a nightmare?  Yes we have a new Right Turn Only lane northbound from Laurel Canyon onto Mulholland, but there are so many scofflaws taking a right, then pulling a U turn on Mulholland to avoid the backup. You just want to scream.

So how to amuse yourself even though NPR is now on its second repetition of its canned hourly news programming? There’s plenty of time to study the houses and building.  I often get stuck right around Doña Dorothea, which has a DWP building on the corner – you know, near where the white house got caught in a mudslide a few years ago?  The building is classic ’50s red brick.  It’s a water pumping station. Two questions pop to mind. One – Did this thing have anything to do with the house galloping down the hill?  Two – Is this allowed all the Doñas to be developed?  After doing some research I found a DWP archive picture of a little Greek style temple sitting by its lonesome self below the northern crest of Laurel Canyon ”“ the old reservoir. Where’d it go?

So here’s what I got from Fred Baker, the Operations Manager, unofficial historian of the area. The Laurel Canyon Reservoir was constructed between 1930-31 and went into service on April 20, 1931.  It is a cylindrical, concrete reservoir, with an inside diameter of 150’ and a depth of water of about 22’. Its capacity is about 3 million gallons. The high water elevation is about 948’ above sea level. When it was constructed it was called Laurel Canyon Reservoir No.1, because it was anticipated that a second reservoir might be built nearby. It never happened.

At the time, the only streets were Laurel Canyon and Mulholland.  William Mulholland had “christened” the roadway in 1924 with a bottle of Los Angeles Aqueduct water [not Champagne, due to Prohibition.] Photographs taken that day indicate Mulholland was not yet paved. It was 55 miles long at that time.  What most people don’t know is that Mulholland Highway did not have the traditional water or sewer services buried beneath it. Serious development had to wait for water.

When the reservoir was built it had an ornamental, octagonal, tile-roof and it was about 15 feet high. Over its central air vent the old picture showed an inlet-outlet valving mechanism. The reservoir itself is buried, meaning its side walls are below grade, although on the south and east sides the earth was filled against the walls. The top of the reservoir is approximately level with the ground around it. When it was new, and for several decades thereafter, the top of the reservoir had several feet of dirt on it and was planted with a lawn. The octagonal structure, the dirt and lawn on the reservoir top have been removed.

The reservoir serves as a supply for the pumping station located immediately to its east. The station pumps water up to higher elevation tanks.

If you peek though the fence of The Laurel Canyon Pumping you can still see the pictured older building tucked away next to the reservoir.  Wonder what its story is? Call Fred with your questions at 213-367-0960.