Spahn Ranch
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Spahn Ranch
Spahn Movie Ranch | |
|---|---|
Ranch | |
 The Spahn Movie Ranch, with a portion of the Old Santa Susana Stage Road. | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  California |
| County | Los Angeles |
| Built | 1920 - 1930 |
| Founded by | William S. Hart |
| Area | |
| • Total | 200 ha (500 acres) |
| Elevation | 415 m (1,364 ft) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (PST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
Spahn Ranch, also known as the Spahn Movie Ranch, was a 500-acre (2.0 km2) movie ranch used for filming generally Western-themed movies and television programs. With mountainous terrain, boulder-strewn scenery, and an 'old Western town' set, Spahn Ranch was a versatile filming site for many scripts. No longer in use, the entrance to the historic ranch was at 12000 Santa Susana Pass Road (street numbers have since been changed) of the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains above Chatsworth, California. Now part of the Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park, Spahn Ranch is notoriously and best known as the primary residence of Charles Manson and his followers, the "Manson Family," for much of 1968 and 1969.
History
Movies
The ranch took its name from dairy farmer George Spahn, who purchased the property in 1948. Silent film actor William S. Hart owned the ranch prior to Spahn. Many western-themed movies and television shows were filmed on the ranch, including Duel in the Sun (1946) and television episodes of Bonanza, The Lone Ranger, and Zorro.[citation needed] It was also the filming location for the B-movie The Creeping Terror.
The Manson Family
Spahn was 80 years old and living at the ranch when he allowed The Manson Family to move in, rent-free, in exchange for labor. The family did daily chores and helped run the horse rental business, which had become Spahn's main source of income.[1] Despite this arrangement, Spahn was never accused of any role in the many murders for which members of the Family were later convicted, the most infamous being the Tate-LaBianca murders committed on August 9th and 10th, 1969. In late 1969, Robert Hendrickson began filming the Manson Family at the ranch for his documentary film Manson. There he filmed Spahn, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, Bruce Clayton Elliott, Nancy Pittman, Catherine "Gypsy" Share, Sandra Good, Paul Watkins and others. It is the place where the 'family' lived while committing the 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders in Los Angeles.[2] The 'family' also stayed at Barker Ranch, which is located in the Panamint Range between Death Valley and the Panamint Valley in the northern Mojave Desert.
Later history
A wildfire destroyed all of the Spahn Movie Ranch's film sets and residential structures on September 26, 1970. George Spahn died on September 22, 1974, and is buried in Eternal Valley Memorial Park in nearby Newhall, California.
In Ed Sanders' 1971 book The Family: The Story of Charles Manson's Dune Buggy Attack Battalion, the Spahn Ranch's old telephone number is given as 213-DI1-9026 (213-341-9026). This number reflects the old telephone exchange name prefix system: DI is the first two letters of "Diamond," representing the numerals 3 and 4 respectively. However, "DI" was actually a telephone exchange name used in the Woodland Hills, Northridge and Canoga Park areas; the Spahn Ranch would have used the exchange "NI" (43) in the 1960s, and the exchange name system was completely replaced by "All-Number Calling" in the 1970s. Additionally, the area code for the Ranch changed from 213 to 818 in 1984.[3]
Jim Thirlwell recorded and released a song about the Manson murders, called "DI1-9026", and released it under the name "Scraping Foetus Off the Wheel" on the 1985 album Nail.
State Park
The Spahn Movie Ranch is now part of California's Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park, with the "Devil's Slide" section of the historic Old Santa Susana Stage Road on the park's northern side.[4] Many hiking trails give access to the natural beauty and the panoramic views of the San Fernando Valley.[5]
See also
References
- ^ http://www.cielodrive.com/spahn-movie-ranch.php
- ^ Police Raid Ranch, Arrest 26 Suspects In Auto Theft Ring Cielodrive.com
- ^ LA Almanac - Old Telephone Exchange Names: Los Angeles County
- ^ Santa Susana Pass SHP California State Parks
- ^ Escondido Canyon Park LAMountains.com