The St. Francis Dam Tragedy, 80 Years Later

Mulholland inspects the dam's ruins

Will at Metblogs L.A. reminds us that Wednesday marked the 80th anniversary of one of the deadliest engineering disasters in this country's history -- and the second biggest loss of life (behind the 1906 San Francisco earthquake) in California history: The St. Francis Dam collapse.

It was just after midnight on March 12, 1928, when the dam (located five miles northeast of what's now Santa Clarita) gave way -- spilling more than 12 billion gallons of water in its path. There's still not an accurate count of how many people were killed -- but it's believed to be as high as 600.

The dam was built in 1926 by William Mulholland, the man who helped birth modern Los Angeles by bringing water to the growing metropolis via the Los Angeles Aqueduct. Will notes:

In the first year after its completion in 1926, the dam hinted at its potential flaws in the form of cracks and leaks that Mulholland would inspect and dismiss as normal for a dam of that size. It was filled to capacity for the first time on March 7 and new cracks and leaks almost immediately appeared, again disregarded by Mulholland. On the morning of March 12 still more fresh cracks and leaks presented and for the last time Mulholland pronounced them normal and the dam entirely safe.

Mulholland's career pretty much ended after that, and he disappeared from public view; he died at age 79 in 1935.