Here're some interesting articles I've found that don't belong in any obvious existing thread.
Apparently they had some unexpected problem sourcing rock for the San Gabriel dam. There was a lot of talk to getting rock from Bichota Canyon or Devil's Canyon (I'm not sure which one) instead of whatever they were planning. Those two sites are further away, and would cost more. No idea what they ended up doing; I didn't look into it closely enough. LA Times. 1934/11/19 Pages 1,2:
Shoemaker Canyon rd was being built in the 1950s and 1960s. There wasn't any talk about this being some cold-war escape route (like some modern sources say). It was just your normal mountain road. One that was supposed to take 25 years to complete! The tunnels were already being cut in 1957:
And 1958:
By 1963 they decided to give up; honorably. By rerouting to Bichota Canyon instead of going all the way to Vincent gap.
I guess even that didn't work.
Various historical newspaper things: Shoemaker Canyon rd and San Gabriel dam
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dima
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Gene
- Old Dam Man
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Very interesting history. I wonder if they used more of the overburden rock from the quarry to actually build the dam. The article doesn't mention the clay and concrete core with rock rubble piled in steps on either side of the dam so they may have changed the design.
Speaking of rock quarries and dam face rubble removal, there is an abandoned dam site closer to the east/west fork. The site is visible on the far side of the canyon from the highway. Supposedly some county supervisors went to jail over corruption involving contracts to build the dam at the site that was later determined to be (very) unsuitable.
Speaking of rock quarries and dam face rubble removal, there is an abandoned dam site closer to the east/west fork. The site is visible on the far side of the canyon from the highway. Supposedly some county supervisors went to jail over corruption involving contracts to build the dam at the site that was later determined to be (very) unsuitable.
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Matthew
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Don't stop sharing these since I'm now more devoted to the PL&P mission than ever before!
I feel like the excavation of devil's gulch rock for the dam might have been in preparation for the shoemaker highway moving towards Vincent gap. They may have been trying to make the cost of excavation cheaper in the longrun since a road may have passed through there too. Bichota though is a stretch. There is a fire road cut that moves up that canyon but it's hard to imagine why they'd make another road moving east-west. Shoemaker's 1st tunnel is the longest road tunnel Ive found through brief research, in the San Gabriels and it's insane that they had plans for a 3000 ft one
I feel like the excavation of devil's gulch rock for the dam might have been in preparation for the shoemaker highway moving towards Vincent gap. They may have been trying to make the cost of excavation cheaper in the longrun since a road may have passed through there too. Bichota though is a stretch. There is a fire road cut that moves up that canyon but it's hard to imagine why they'd make another road moving east-west. Shoemaker's 1st tunnel is the longest road tunnel Ive found through brief research, in the San Gabriels and it's insane that they had plans for a 3000 ft one
stoke is high
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dima
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Indeed:Gene wrote: Fri Jan 02, 2026 6:11 am Speaking of rock quarries and dam face rubble removal, there is an abandoned dam site closer to the east/west fork. The site is visible on the far side of the canyon from the highway. Supposedly some county supervisors went to jail over corruption involving contracts to build the dam at the site that was later determined to be (very) unsuitable.
1935/08/30 Daily News. Probably many many more articles are out there.
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