Mentryville (with historical photos)

There is a lot of information available about Mentryville (or Pico or Pico Camp). On the internet there is the The Story of Mentryville by Leon Worden. There is the Santa Clarita Valley History in Pictures - Mentryville. There is Darryl Manzer's The Only Kid in Mentryville. There is Lagasses Kept Ghost Town Alive for Nearly 30 Years. And there is Bill Rundberg's Special Memories of Pico Canyon.

For visuals, there is A Visit to Mentryville program on SCVTV. There is also Patricia Westcott Kelly - Remembers Growing Up in Mentryville in the 1920's-30's.

According to Darryl Manzer (who had a lot of contact with oldtimers who came back to the town in the 1960's), Mentryville was actually more of a derogatory name for Pico. The oil workers had to go travel five miles to Newhall to get their liquor, which naturally did not make them very happy. The land was owned by the oil company (PCO then Standard). Either the oil company or Superintendent Charles A. Mentry banned liquor from the little town. If you look at any map, the town is labeled as Pico. When Bill Rundberg and his family lived there from 1948-53, it was just Pico Canyon to them.

Charles Alexander Mentry was a well-known Pennsylvanian oil driller. He came to the west in 1873 and eventually became the superintendent for the recently formed California Star Oil Works Company in 1876. He moved to Pico with his family around 1876.

The first mention I can find of Mentryville is in the description of the earthquake of April 1893 (see the Earthquake page). There is also a Los Angeles Times article from August 8, 1893 which states: "A gang of sixteen boiler makers are now engaged in erecting a 20,000 barrel tank at Mentryville."

There was never really any organization to the homes built here. They were scattered among the wells up and down the canyon. When people left, they often just took the whole house with them. A schoolhouse was built in 1885. The town was also heated and lighted by gas, a common commodity in an oil field. Up to 100 families supposedly lived here and up the canyon by 1880.

The Pico cottage, or the Big House, was build in 1898-99 by Mentry and was used by all the superintendents and foremans after that until it was severely damaged by the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

The 1910 United States Census shows that Pico Canyon had a population of 121. There were 26 heads of households, so we can say there were 26 families in the canyon. There were 52 Standard Oil employees, 2 bee farm workers, and 3 hotel workers. There were 22 males and 13 females under the age of 17. There were two 82 year old Standard workers. There was one 15 year old wife. There were 26 male borders for the hotel workers to take care of. Unfortunately, Pico Canyon was not indicated on any census before, or after, the 1910 census.

On October 4, 1900, Charles Mentry died either from a bee sting (Reynolds), a kissing bug (John Boston), or typhoid (LA Times 9/21/1969). A daughter-in-law of Mentry said it was an insect bite confirming Boston's story. Walton Young became the superintendent after Mentry until 1927.

By the 1920's, and even before, the boom in Pico Canyon was fading and Mentryville was starting to die. In 1927, Charles Sitzman became the superintendent until 1937. He spent much of his time roaming the hills and bringing back old oil equipment to town. He had visions of a museum. Unfortunately, this vision never became reality. As you will see in the following pictures, much of the old equipment now is just piled up like junk. I hear that more artifacts are locked up somewhere so they won't be stolen. The current owners (Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy) seem to be more interested in preserving the few remaining structures then preserving the reason the structures were there in the first place.

The last superintendent was John Blaney. His short reign was only from 1937 to 1938. After him, there were only foremans. The Manzers lived in the Big House from 1960 - 1966. Darryl Manzer still returns occasionally and has written articles about his time there (see The Only Kid in Mentryville). The last Chevron foreman to live there was Frenchy Lagasse (who help build the little derrick in Johnson Park) and his family. They stayed there until the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which caused extensive damage to the big house. In 1995, Chevron sold Mentryville and their Pico Canyon land (and much more land from the other canyons) to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. It is managed by the MRCA (Mountains Recreation and Conservancy).

A MRCA ranger and his family lived there until 2003, when floods forced them to move out. The ranger residence is currently being renovated. See this Daily News article.

Looking north down at the "Y" intersection on Pico Canyon Road (which runs horizontally in the photo). The upper limb goes into Potrero Canyon. The lower limb goes into Mentryville. There is free parking at this point, but you will have about a 10 minute hike to Mentryville. The canyon on the north side of Pico Canyon Road just before "Y" is called Dead Horse Canyon on maps. It is fenced off and contains numerous large trash containers.

From Bill Rundberg (who lived in Pico Canyon from 1948-1953):

Re "Dead Cow Canyon", I never saw that in print, only heard it from locals, e.g. Mike Larinan. I have since seen reference to a “Dead Horse Canyon” in an article about Pico Canyon in Leon Worden’s Old Town Newhall Gazette. Potrero Canyon led to an oil lease, owned by Barnsdall when we arrived, then by Sunray. The home of the Borden family was on that lease."

Entrance to Mentryville. Turn to the left to the parking area after you pay $5 at the iron ranger behind the picture.

The Mentryville California historical landmark marker

The barn is the first structure you will pass

The superintendent's house

The superintendent's house was actually known as the Pico Cottage. The "Big House" name was evidently first used after the Lagasse family lived there for some time. That name has stuck. When the Manzers moved there in 1960, they rented the Pico cottage from Standard and never heard of the "Big House."

From higher up

The Felton school was named for Charles N. Felton the president of the Pacific Coast Oil Company. It was built in 1885 and closed in 1932.

Since the last picture was taken, the MRCA decided that the historic tree was not desirable anymore. It was cut down sometime in the week of 4/20/08 - 4/26/08. The base was about 3-feet in diameter. That's a lot of firewood. The MRCA says the trees are not healthy in this Signal article and here is part 2 of the article.

From higher up. Note the new (as of late 2008) trail zigzaging up Mustard Hill. I suppose the MRCA has a good reason for building this trail, but it sure ruins Mustard Hill. To the left (west) of this picture is an old road that was used to get up to a water tank that was on top of the hill. If you look in the distance, you can see the road going diagonally up the hill to the water tank in this picture and this picture on the Santa Clarita Valley History in Pictures website. Why the MRCA decided to chop up Mustard Hill when they could have just used the old road is a mystery to me.

As of December 2008, the trail is closed. This is the start of the trail, not the end of the trail.

The Newhall High Country Trail

In the area to the right of the Felton school (in the background) is this pile of oil industry related, and other, artifacts.

Early oil tank wagon. According to Darryl Manzer, it did not come from Pico Canyon but from somewhere else.

Built by Pike of Los Angeles. I found no information on Pike from the internet.

The wagon is breaking down on one side

Square riveted box probably used to condense steam

Pump jack

Old engine attached to a large pulley. The belt around the pulley may have extended to a "power", part of a jack plant setup.

The engine is on the left. You can see the gears from the engine meshing to the gears of the pulley.

This engine was made by "Union Tool - Torrance, Cal"

Closer view of pulley

Another old engine

Close-up. "Baker Iron Works - Sole Agents - Los Angeles, Cal - Worthington - 114x70x102 - 4 1/2 x 2 3/4 x 4"

Pile of stuff with engine in the background

Looking at that engine.

Still another engine at the end of the pile of stuff (obviously the photo was taken at a different time of the year)

Next to the engine is an incomplete set of center irons on the right

Unknown impressive 27-inch long threaded object

45-inch long cable tool bit. The far end (in this picture) of the bit is what pounds over and over into the rock at the bottom of the well. Notice the tapered threads at the closer end.

View of the "working" end

Pump adjuster. Located on the walking beam holding the polished rod.

Jackline hooks

More stuff

Section of a sprocket tug rim from a calf wheel

This photo was taken by Barbara Morris in 2002. The little oil rig model (couldn't have been over 5 feet tall) was located just east of the school in the area at the base of Mustard Hill where all the above artifacts are located. According to Darryl Manzer, it was used to help kids learn about the oil industry. He believes either Frenchy Lagasse or one of the Chevron workers made it. Either the MRCA got rid of it or they hid it away somewhere. You can also see it in the background of the stills on the UFO Cafe page on my Movies of the Canyons webpage.

This image is NOT in the public domain and was used by permission of Barbara C. Morris

On 3/14/09 there was a St. Patrick's Day run starting in Mentryville. That's why the parking lot is so crowded in this view toward the east.

As you hike out of Mentryville you come to this gap. On both sides you can see how steep the angle of beds of the Pico anticline are. Straight ahead on the other side of the creek are the remains of the bakery. Darryl Manzer says the canyon running in from the left is called Minnie-Lotta Canyon. It was named for two girls who lived in Mentryville at one time — Minnie and Lotta — and the name stuck. They liked to hike up the canyon to a waterfall.

Just before the gap, a new trail has been started up Minnie-Lotta Canyon. The goal is evidently to get near the waterfall, but as of 3/14/09 it just deadends up the canyon after about 1/2 a mile. The MRCA has put a lot of effort in constructing the trail, building at least four bridges, so maybe they have bigger plans.

Here are two of the bridges

Here is the end of the new trail. Somewhere up this canyon is suppose to be a waterfall.

Here is a corner of the foundation of the bakery. It is located near the start of the new trail on the other (south) side of the main creek bed just past the gap. It is about a 10 foot square with one of the sides missing.

The bakery was built by Anthony Cochems in 1897 (Reynolds, 1985). In the 1910 United States Census, Anthony Cochems is listed as a baker for Standard Oil Company. Also in that 1910 census, William Cochems is listed as his 14 year old son. William would later become an oil worker for Standard and, in honor of his retirement, have the replica derrick built for him in Johnson Park.

Mentryville with the Santa Clarita Valley in the distance. Looking toward the northeast from up on the so-called "Christian Hill".

Historical photos

This is the earliest photo that I have seen of Mentryville. The view is toward the north-east. The school house does not exist so this photo was taken before 1885. There is only one little shack at the location of the future Big House. There are also very few trees. This photo is from The Pico Ghost Camp - Part 1 by A.B. Perkins.

This photo (view toward west) now shows the 1885 school house and the 1899 Big House. The trees are much more evident. The big tank is still there and there is another tank on top of the hill (sometimes called Tank hill) in the upper right.

Photo used by permission of the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society

Now the big tank is gone and the trees and bushes are bigger then in the previous photo

Photo used by permission of the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society

Mentryville in 1918. The trees and bushes have grown a lot since the previous photo was taken. From the Natural Gas and Gasoline Journal of November 1918.

Now there is an entrance gate and the trees are bigger and the barn in the foreground looks a lot older. Note the car parked in the bottom middle. This photo was probably taken by A.B. Perkins in 1961 for his Pico Ghost Camp story in the Signal of early 1962.