Lancaster Lake in Sunland

The Crescenta Valley has never had a real lake of its own. In years past we have had enough water collect in our debris basins to actually grow fish, but a couple of drownings decades ago ended that practice. To the west there were some lakes – Pop’s Willow Lake in Big Tujunga Canyon and Hansen Dam in Lake View Terrace. But even closer was Lancaster Lake in Sunland, near today’s Sunland Park and not far off Foothill Boulevard.

The manmade Lancaster Lake was located about a block north of Sunland Park. The backstory is that Edgar Lancaster bought five acres of land there in 1908. The land was naturally swampy, fed by a slow spring just outside the property. There was enough water for kids to swim in and Lancaster set a regular daily schedule of swim-times for the local children.

In 1925 he expanded his operation and dredged out a good-sized lake on the property. Weeping willow trees lined the edge of the shallow lake and Lancaster built a picturesque bridge over it. Swimming was offered in the shallow water and the lake was a pleasant place to take a stroll as well. The pond was stocked with trout and catfish for recreation and for some fishing derbies. In 1942 a $100 prize was offered to the angler who brought in “Oscar,” a huge rainbow trout dubbed the “lurking lord of Lancaster Lake.”

Edgar Lancaster continually added homemade attractions over the years. He carved animals out of logs for kids to play on – a horse, buffalo, pig, elephant and camel. Two hand-carved oxen pulled an old covered wagon. He constructed a crude merry-go-round, a soda stand and picnic tables. A little zoo with a few local critters, including a bobcat, was the first and only zoo in Sunland. A fleet of rental rowboats and a couple of cabins for visitors rounded out the homespun park.

But Lancaster’s pride and joy was his little museum and he rarely let in anyone without providing accompanying narration. There were old guns, Indian artifacts, old coins and rusty farm implements. Colored bottles and glass worked into the walls to create a stained-glass effect. An ad read: “Have you seen the Mystery Den? … See the old Bibles, books, papers, pictures, organs and other musical instruments used in the old days when people were happy.”

Of interest to us today are the many Hollywood movies that were filmed at Lancaster Lake. In the dark waters of the lake Tarzan fought to the death a huge African crocodile; in reality, actor Johnny Weissmuller was thrashing around with a dead alligator. Katherine Hepburn was at the lake for 1933’s “Little Women” as was Ann Blyth for “Mildred Pierce.” Buster Keaton, Jackie Cooper and Mary Pickford filmed there. A lot of B-movies were filmed at the lake – westerns and jungle flicks. The best shots of the lake took place in an Our Gang movie, “Little Sinner,” in which Spanky ditches church for a day of fishing. It’s worth finding this 1935 film for the great shots of the lake’s beauty.

The lake began to get badly silted up until swimming was no longer an acceptable option. The water from the spring flowed less as the years went on, and city water had to be added to the lake to keep it full. Other options were available to locals such as Pop’s Willow Lake and Hansen Dam and attendance declined. Old Edgar Lancaster finally passed away at the age of 92 and by 1950 the lake closed for good.

The lake was filled in and today a couple of trailer parks sit atop the site. Only two remnants of the lake remain today. One is a bell. After Mary Pickford finished filming at the lake, she donated a church bell to Lancaster’s little church. It traveled around as the church grew and today hangs in the New Hope Community Church. The other remnant is a small trickle of water that flows near the back of the trailer parks, the last bit of water that once filled Lancaster Lake.