Where is the old Saugus Prison Farm?

[denbell]

If anybody can help me with this question, it is probably someone on this forum.

Question:  Where exactly is the old Saugus Prison Farm circa 1947? It was supposed to be an old work camp. Does it still exist?

I am researching a family member, and the person I am writing about was incarcerated there for one year in 1947.  He mentions in letters that he saw actor Lawrence Tierney there, and that prisoners were often out "clearing brush" as a part of the work they had to do.  He left behind an old prison receipt envelope stamped Saugus, but had no address on it.  His letters have a return address of an PO Box in Saugus, CA, again no street address.

Is it possibly one of the old fire camps still being used in the valleys?  I want to visit the place if I can locate it.  Any direction would be appreciated, thanks!

[deano]

There used to be an old jail/prison up on the hill above Central Park. It was always referred to as " the drunk farm" when we were kids. I was there in '81 for tear gas training. There were a bunch of old barracks buildings still there at the time.

[denbell]

Wow, now that REALLY helps a lot! The word "drunk" farm seems to be the key.  I've scoured the internet and haven't found much, but when I did a simple Google search on "Saugus Drunk Farm", there were several results that indicated that the place was very old and in ruins up until about the mid 80s. Not sure if there is anything there today .

But this could be the place I am looking for. The reference to actor Tierney being in the prison makes sense, since he was often jailed for public drunkenness and brawls.  The family member was not incarcerated for drunkenness, but rather a different criminal matter.  Still, the other fire camps I've found research on do not date back to 1947, so I want to find more history on this Drunk Farm and see if it could be the one I am looking for.  I am not sure if the land has been developed since, I still want to find out the exact location and maybe find it on historic aerial maps, then hopefully find some real pictures of the place.

That is a good lead, Deano, thanks so much.  If anyone can provide any more info or direction to possible photos or even magical inmate ingestion records(!), I would be ever so grateful!

[Jammer Mann]

googled and found these

http://books.google.de/books?id=F2QEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT11&lpg=PT11&dq=Saugus+Prison+Farm&source=bl&ots=cAf10HctNp&sig=VRDTImOD42rTgMcxqeIXCuDqtmk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=P-70Tq_NNcHUsgbg-tjcDw&sqi=2&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Saugus%20Prison%20Farm&f=false


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletic_Model_Guild

[Mike]

I think Deano's ID'd the right place, but it's possible that the timeframe doesn't match up. It looks like that facility opened in the 50s, but it's possible it served some other purpose prior to that. FWIW, it was city property, so if your relative would have been arrested in somewhere other than the City of Los Angeles, it might not be the place. Still, I think it's the most likely location.

At any rate, the land in question is now home to our local water district, the Castaic Lake Water Agency. They have an elaborate setup there with gardens and such, and for some reason, there's also a plot of farmland, which is odd being in the middle of this city in this day & age, much less atop a small mountain. Luckily, Google now has aerial photographs of the area, so you can see what it looks like now. I've never been up there, but there is a water tower and shells of former buildings that look pretty old. http://g.co/maps/4sf9p

The area nearly became the site of a state prison in the 80s.

Another likelihood is that it was the Wayside Honor Rancho, which was the first honor farm in California. I think that was opened in 1938. Today it's known as the Pitchess Detention Center. It isn't in Saugus today, but the majority of the Santa Clarita Valley was considered to be "Saugus" decades ago (even today, a semi-formal name and nobody agrees exactly on where it begins and ends).

As I'm sure you've seen, there's the pornographer who did time in a "Saugus prison farm" in 1947 as well. If you have access to some academic databases, you might be able to find some more reports from the period, as it was a pretty big deal.

Also, there's a local historical society,  http://www.scvhistory.com and there's a local expert on these things, Leon Worden, who's always been very helpful when I have a question about local history. His email is lworden@scvtv.com

[Phil Ellis]

What does John Boston have to say about this?

[Phil Ellis]

I also found the following that may help

http://articles.latimes.com/1987-10-14/local/me-9179_1_city-council

http://articles.latimes.com/1985-11-01/local/me-843_1_prison-population

http://www.scvleon.com/cgi/guestbook/rec/old/gbook301-350.htm

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/VRNfcvcFZy4&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/VRNfcvcFZy4&rel=0</a>

[denbell]

All,

This is all very very helpful, you guys are awesome.  I am pretty good at googling for research, but it is tough if I don't now what to google for!  Your local knowledge was the key, and now I have some great leads.

I did see some of the links, and one of the articles mentioned that the Drunk Farm site was owned by the city since the early 50s, so that is close to my late 1940s dates, so I'll dig deeper into the history of that for verification of the dates.  This receipt artifact I have actually has a stamp on it with the one word "Farm".  I suppose that could mean the Drunk Farm, or with Mike's new info about the Wayside Honor Rancho it could mean an actual farm, as I've googled and learned that the Rancho was an agricultural center.  ( http://www.badgehistory.com/WaysideHistory.html )  So since the Rancho began in 1938, that could very well be the place. (and I found one link that also called that place a drunk farm. Hmm)

All this puts me in a much better place than I was this morning, trying to find this location.  I'll make some phone calls and a few emails as you've suggested, and see what comes .  Wouldn't it be amazing if I can trace down the old prisoner records of these locations!

Thanks so much, and don't let the suggestions stop here!  I'll eventually post what I find as followup, for archival sake on this forum.

[CC]

They don't call this Awesometown for nothing.  It's great to make a breakthrough when researching family history. 

[Petz2]

I've always wondered about those concrete pill boxes on the hill above Central Park