Historical sketch 00:00 - 02:29
Begin Tour Around Lake 02:30 - 04:21
The Duck Pond 04:22 - 09:46
The Caretaker's House and Dam 09:47 - 14:22
Drive around East Side to McBeevee location 14:23 - 16:10
Hiking trail along east side of the lake 16:11 - 20:42
Finishing Drive loop on North side of lake 20:43 - 21:53
Location of Andy Griffith Show filming of opening scene 21:54 - 28:08
Location of a scene from Combat! 28:09 - 29:33
Walking the wall on east side of loop road 29:34 - 31:06
Edwards Point marker (Center of Los Angeles) in the park 31:07 - 32.20
Relaxing slide show (snap shots of the days tour) 32.:21 - 34:15
Bonus footage and list of TV Shows and Movies filmed here 34:16 - 36:33

Overview --
Frozen in time...The path to the fishing hole where the opening scene for The Andy Griffith Show was filmed in 1960. This is the only "set" that exist from The Andy Griffith Show and it is located at the Upper Reservoir of Franklin Canyon Park, Santa Monica Recreation Area, Beverly Hills, CA. This 605 acre area was an important part of the engineering to bring water and electrical power to West Los Angeles, CA in 1916. William Mulholland was the chief engineer who began his work 1911. In the 1930's the Canyon got the attention of film makers in Hollywood because there was natural beauty of the place and without Palm Trees.

In 1940, the WPA workers built the earthen "Flood Control Dam" at the northern end of what is now the Visitor's Center parking lot, and the winding system of concrete culverts, tunnels and walls to protect the reservoir from erosion, silt, and surface water contamination. They also planted the redwoods, pines, and other trees that surround the upper reservoir.

The area was closed to the public and this was also a plus factor for film makers, not to mention the property was within that magic circle of Los Angeles of 30 miles radius keeping them from having to pay perdieum fees to crews and talent for productions.
After the 1971 Sylmar earthquake, the strength of the reservoir system was questioned, and studies were done to protect Los Angeles' water supply from a future, possibly stronger tremor. It was finally decided to take both the upper and lower reservoirs out of service, and to build a single, more modern and stable reservoir facility a quarter mile north of what-was-then the lower reservoir. This new rubber-covered facility became known as the Franklin 2 reservoir, and was operational in 1982.

With DWP no longer in need of the upper reservoir, this area was now ripe for being developed into homes. Fortunately, a local political organizer and fund-raiser named Sooky Goldman envisioned this area as a unique educational facility for inner-city children, where they could experience nature and true wilderness only miles from downtown Los Angeles. With help from a few other concerned conservationists, she made steady progress in achieving this goal.

In 1991, a formal agreement was reached between the DWP and the Federal Government to share ownership of the land. The DWP would maintain the surge chamber and other water-control equipment in the upper canyon, and the National Park Service would manage the land as a conservation center and public park. At that time, the Upper Reservoir was renamed Franklin Canyon Lake.

The preceding information was extracted from:
Information from "Franklin Canyon, A Microhistory," by Allan E. Edwards, Ph.D., July 1991.

If Dr. Edwards names sounds familiar...he is the person featured in my video relating to the plaque on the Chapparal trail marking the "plane of the city of Los Angeles" Yep, that is he.
#filmlocation #andygriffith #backlot #franklincanyon #mayberry #combat!