Santa Clarita Valley History In Pictures
> PICO CANYON-MENTRYVILLE
Mentryville Residences, 1885-1891
Pico Canyon, California


Click image to enlarge

thumbnail
Version 1

thumbnail
Version 2

Hilltop view of Mentryville, 1885-1891.

The small building at center-top is the Felton schoolhouse, which was initially oriented parallel to the road, as shown. At some point it was turned 90 degrees to face the road, and a foyer was added. (Possibly after the big 1893 earthquake, but we don't know.)

In "Pico Canyon Chronicles" (Reynolds 1985), historian Jerry Reynolds dates this photograph to 1883. But in the same text he says the schoolhouse was built in 1885, so one of the dates is amiss. He writes:

"One of the first tangible results of (a mid-1880s boom stemming from new demand for low-cost gasoline and oil) was the creation of the Felton School District and erection of a one-room, board-and-batten, little red schoolhouse in 1885, named for the president of Pacific Coast Oil Co. (Charles Felton)."

It's interesting to note that Reynolds says the schoolhouse was red. We don't know his information source, but clearly, from the photo, it's not the institutional light gray or cream color it later became during the Standard Oil Co. regime. According to 1960s Mentryville resident Darryl Manzer (2014), in the 1800s it, like other buildings in the canyon, was the dark brown hue of unfinished redwood.

As for the outside date of the photograph, local historian Stan Walker notes:

" The 'Big House' (aka Pico Cottage) has not been built. The large, 20,000-barrel-capacity tank on the right was built in 1883. ... The 1891 survey map ... shows the school house, but with a fence around it and another building. That dates this photo as between 1885 and 1891."

He adds: "I can see 9 people looking at the photographer, so this must have been a big event back in those days."

Reynolds (op.cit.) provides this description of the structures shown here:

"The Felton School stands alone, upper center. Across the road to the right is the Miller home below the storage tank. Then comes Pardee, Shyrock, and Cam Lewis houses. Below in the trees is Alex Mentry's second home. In front of his residence are croquet courts, left. Partially hidden by the hill on the left side of the road is Matt McCormack's home. He was Asst. Supt. of Pico. Next above resided J.A. Floyd and then Walton Young."


Above and below: Roughly the same view in the 2010s. Photos by Stan Walker.


AP0123: 19200 dpi jpeg from copy print.
PICO OIL CAMP

thumbnail

CSOW Time Book
1887-1889

thumbnail

CSOW Stock Certificate 1901

thumbnail

SCV History Moment

thumbnail

Early Oil & Gas Production in Calif. (Video 1985)

Standard Oil Co. History to 1929


thumbnail

Description Jan. 1877

thumbnail

Description May 1877

thumbnail

Description 9-26-1882

thumbnail

Oil Tank Const. & Death 1883

thumbnail

Mentryville 1885-1891

thumbnail

CSO Hill 1883

thumbnail

Oil Works ~1885

thumbnail

The Pico Field 1890

thumbnail

PCO Hill ~1890s

thumbnail

CSO Jackline Plant

thumbnail

Farrar & Trefts Boiler

thumbnail

New Boiler 1893?

thumbnail

Mentryville 1890s-1900s

thumbnail

Reamer Patent 1900

thumbnail

Machine Shop 1910

thumbnail

Machine Shop 1910s

thumbnail

Natural Gas-to-Gasoline 1913/14

thumbnail

Mentryville ~1920

thumbnail

Pico No. 4, 1931

thumbnail

CSO Jackline Plant

thumbnail

PCO Jackline Plant Remnants

thumbnail

Darryl Manzer at Firehouse ~1961

thumbnail

Darryl Manzer at Field Office ~1961

thumbnail

Pico No. 4, 1961

thumbnail

Darryl Manzer, L.A. Times Story 1962

thumbnail

National Survey 1963

thumbnail

PCO Jackline Plant Removal 1974-75

thumbnail

CSO Jackline Plant 1974-75

thumbnail

A.C. Mentry Blacksmith Forge

RETURN TO TOP ]   RETURN TO MAIN INDEX ]   PHOTO CREDITS ]   BIBLIOGRAPHY ]   BOOKS FOR SALE ]
SCVHistory.com is another service of SCVTV, a 501c3 Nonprofit • Site contents ©SCVTV
The site owner makes no assertions as to ownership of any original copyrights to digitized images. However, these images are intended for Personal or Research use only. Any other kind of use, including but not limited to commercial or scholarly publication in any medium or format, public exhibition, or use online or in a web site, may be subject to additional restrictions including but not limited to the copyrights held by parties other than the site owner. USERS ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE for determining the existence of such rights and for obtaining any permissions and/or paying associated fees necessary for the proposed use.