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Turnbull Canyon

USA / California / Whittier /
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Interesting canyon with locally well known twisty road and a perennial creek. Used to be part of the Turnbull Ranch, which the Pickering Land and Water Co purchased in 1887 for $29,460 to supply the new city of Whittier with water. Within two years, the water company had installed pipes down the canyon, and had constructed two large reservoirs to store water for distribution to the City. To increase water flows for the growing city, the water company also dug a tunnel over 1/4 mile into the side of Turnbull Canyon, approx 3/4 of the way up the canyon. Water was then drawn from the tunnel and piped down the canyon to the two reservoirs, and thence from the reservoirs the water was delivered to the city.
In 1899, the Pickering Land and Water Company transferred the existing water distribution system to the newly incorporated City of Whittier (including the reservoirs and supply pipes in Turnbull Canyon, which appear to have been abandoned by that time.)
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   33°59'35"N   118°0'51"W

Comments

  • jopeth
    A lot of wierd stuff goes on here. Supposedly used to be the site of an insane asylum in the '30s and home to a lot of cultist events like kidnapping and baby-selling. Several people have died here because of the street racers that like the twisty roads. And Native Americans named this place Hutuknga, or "the dark place".
  • Kathleen (guest)
    The "insane asylum" is probably the old Grand View Sanitarium off of Workman Mill Road. Urban legends abound here, this is for sure!
This article was last modified 17 years ago