Bird's-eye view of Chatsworth, Calif., in the 1920s offers a glimpse at movie history in the northwest San Fernando Valley

Aerial photo of Chatsworth, Calif., circa 1920s

I found an old bird's-eye view of Chatsworth, Calif., at the library, and while it's low-res by today's Bing and Google Earth standards, it's an important shot from a film history standpoint. The photo provides insights into the area surrounding the Iverson Movie Ranch when it was first getting up to speed as a filming location back in the silent movie era. I recommend that you click on these photos to see larger versions of them.

This shot indicates where the Iverson Movie Ranch, divided into its upper and lower halves, fits into the landscape. The photo is not clear enough to provide a meaningful look at the Iverson Ranch itself, but it helps put the nearby hills, roads and other features in perspective. The undated photo appears to be from sometime in the 1920s.

Oat Mountain may be the most frequently seen background feature in productions filmed on the Iverson Movie Ranch. Also noted here are Stoney Point — a Chatsworth landmark next to Topanga Canyon Boulevard that today is a popular rock-climbing destination — and a portion of the Brandeis Ranch that I call Brandeis Plain, which is often visible in the background in productions shot on the Upper Iverson. The Brandeis property was located immediately to the west of the Upper Iverson, and to the south and west of the Brandeis Estate was another filming location, the Lazy A Ranch, which operated mainly in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

The most exciting discovery in the early photo is a road that is now known as Johnson Motorway or Johnson Mountain Way. These days the road, besides serving as a fire break, is part of a hiking loop that includes the Rocky Peak area to the west. But the photo reveals that it already existed as a relatively well-defined road as far back as the 1920s, suggesting that it would have been used as a route into and out of the northwestern corner of the San Fernando Valley. This route is not nearly as well-known as Santa Susana Pass Road, built in 1917, which connected — and still connects — the San Fernando Valley and Simi Valley. The Johnson Motorway route is also much less well-documented than the old stagecoach road, which is not seen in this shot but entered the San Fernando Valley below Santa Susana Pass Road.

The old road winding its way down the hill from the northwest connected up in those days with Mayan Drive, part of early planned development in the foothills. The Twin Lakes project never fully took off, and the Deerlake Highlands development farther up the hill was a complete bust, with the land remaining undeveloped for almost 100 years. Today a small residential area at the northern end of Topanga bears the name Twin Lakes, and Mayan Drive runs through the neighborhood, connecting the top of Topanga with the top of Canoga. This shot also points out the location of the old Mayan Gate that marked the entrance to Twin Lakes. The gate stood near the southeast corner of the Iverson Movie Ranch until the 1950s.

1929 aerial: Roads for the Deerlake Highlands project already in place

The Twin Lakes neighborhood was only a small part of the grand scheme that included the proposed Deerlake Highlands development, and for almost a century the hills above Twin Lakes remained marked with some of the proposed residential streets that were carved out for Deerlake Highlands in the 1920s — mostly for homes that were never built.

 

Entrance to the new "Deerlake Ranch" gated community

The land that was designated to become Deerlake Highlands all the way back in the 1920s did eventually get developed, but not until the 21st century. Today it is a gated community known as "Deerlake Ranch," which has no connection to the original project other than geographic proximity and the use of the name. This development is visible in the hills above Chatsworth, appearing as a mass of relatively uniform homes filling the hillside area to the west of similar developments in Porter Ranch.

The Mayan Gate, marking the entrance to the Twin Lakes development

The above view of the Mayan Gate looks south, and would be the view visitors would get when leaving the Twin Lakes area. I know of one occasion when the Mayan Gate appeared in an old movie — the James Cagney feature "White Heat," which I discussed in this earlier blog entry. Visible in the distance in this shot, framed by the gate, is the hill known today as Summit Ridge, to the south of Twin Lakes and the Iverson Ranch.

 

"Old Los Angeles" (Republic, 1948): Summit Ridge turns up in the background

Summit Ridge, which today is another gated community, appears in the backgrounds of many movies filmed on the Iverson Ranch. This shot from the Bill Elliott Western "Old Los Angeles" is taken looking south through the Iverson Gorge, with Nyoka Cliff looming large on the left side of the frame and Hawk Rock jutting above the ridgeline on the right.

The Deerlake Highlands and Twin Lakes area in 2014

Here's a modern aerial photo showing the area of the proposed Twin Lakes and Deerlake Highlands developments. The neighborhood now known as Twin Lakes, circled in yellow at the bottom of the photo, is filled with unique residential homes, a rare few of which date back to the original development. The original Mayan Drive still winds through the neighborhood. Meanwhile, many of the roads that were carved out in the 1920s for Deerlake Highlands remained etched into the hills above the northwest San Fernando Valley as of 2014 and can be seen toward the top of the photo. The original layout was later destroyed as part of grading for today's Deerlake Ranch.

One feature that can be easily matched up between the circa 1920s bird's-eye photo and productions shot on the Iverson Movie Ranch is a short section of road set against the hills to the north of the Upper Iverson. I have been calling this section "Road Up the Hill" in my research, but thanks to the old bird's-eye shot, I now know that it was part of that original road that extended far to the northwest — the same road now known as Johnson Motorway and used mainly for hiking.

"Go West, Young Lady" (1941) — Road Up the Hill

Here's an example of a movie appearance by Road Up the Hill, or Johnson Motorway, in Columbia's musical-comedy Western "Go West, Young Lady," which starred Glenn Ford, Penny Singleton and Ann Miller. This shot is taken on the Upper Iverson, and Road Up the Hill can be seen in the top right corner.

The Line of Trees divided the Upper Iverson Movie Ranch from the Brandeis Estate to the west, including the section of the estate property I call Brandeis Plain. Road Up the Hill can be seen in the backgrounds of countless chase sequences filmed on both the Upper Iverson and the Lazy A Ranch, adjacent to the Brandeis Ranch. In this shot, a stagecoach can be seen near the center of the frame, speeding across the Upper Iverson.

"Johnny Concho" (United Artists, 1956)

Here's another movie appearance by Road Up the Hill, in the Frank Sinatra Western "Johnny Concho." Road Up the Hill appears near the top left corner, and this shot also features Bear Tree — a photogenic Upper Iverson oak tree that survived well into the 21st century.

This is the same "Johnny Concho" shot, pointing out Road Up the Hill and Bear Tree. Bear Tree was discussed in detail in this earlier blog post.

 

Frank Sinatra and Phyllis Kirk at Corriganville in "Johnny Concho"

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The old Mayan Gate to Chatsworth's historic Twin Lakes Park pops up in a James Cagney movie

Twin Lakes Park was a 1920s-era development in the hills above the northwest San Fernando Valley that was known for its Mayan and Aztec-style architecture and its two lakes — created by damming Chatsworth's Devils Creek and Browns Creek.

Twin Lakes Park — photo from promotional brochure, circa 1926

Twin Lakes Park disappeared decades ago, although its legacy survives in the form of a few artifacts — including the remnants of the two original dams; some old deteriorated strips of asphalt that used to be Mayan Drive, one of the main access roads to the park; and a current residential area known by the name Twin Lakes, located just above the 118 Freeway east of Topanga, near the original Twin Lakes.

 Twin Lakes Park Gate, looking south

One thing that no longer exists is the massive Mayan-style gate that marked one of the main entrances to Twin Lakes — straddling Mayan Drive just above Santa Susana Pass Road, a short distance west of Topanga.

 Approximately the same view, looking south

You may or may not see the similarity in the shape of the background hills in the above two shots, but the second shot is my attempt to re-create the view through the Twin Lakes Park Gate, as seen in the old shot of the gate. I wasn't able to duplicate the angle exactly.

"White Heat," 1949

Twin Lakes Park's Mayan Gate made a fleeting appearance in the James Cagney film noir "White Heat," as seen in the above screen shot. As far as I've been able to determine, no one has previously identified the structure seen in this movie as the gate to Twin Lakes Park. The gate appears suddenly and is on screen only briefly, showing up during a sequence focused on a speeding car. The portion of the gate seen above, at the right of the shot, is all we see of it in the movie. Directed by Raoul Walsh, the movie is widely considered to be one of Cagney's best, and includes his iconic line, "Made it, Ma — top of the world!"

The site of the Mayan Gate today

The location of the Mayan Gate was immediately to the east of what is generally thought of as the southeast corner of the Iverson Ranch. The gate may in fact have been situated on property that at one time or other was a part of the ranch. The land shares the topography of Iverson, including its distinctive sandstone boulders. One of those boulders, seen in the above photo, remains at the site today and helps pinpoint where the gate was located. A little bit of the remains of Mayan Drive can also be seen in the above shot.

Here's a poor-resolution photo from the old promotional brochure for Twin Lakes, showing the gate holding a sign reading "Twin Lakes Park." One of the most important details in this shot is the boulder just above and to the left of the gate — the same boulder found at the site today and seen in the photo above this one. The big rocks in front of the gate — seen here and in the "White Heat" shot above — no longer exist, having been removed when Santa Susana Pass Road was built through to Topanga.

Click here to see a previous blog entry about James Cagney's connection to the Iverson Movie Ranch — including Cagney Rock, which can still be found at the site today.