A mystery monument at Borden and Sayre

I knew what I was looking for, but I hadn't seen it since the time I was a kid. I would visit this location with my Aunt Mildred and my grandfather, C.V. Ray.

And it looked nothing like it did when we would go there.

Today, it's a painted pile of bricks protected by a wrought iron fence -- no historical marker or description sign.

Back then, there were no bricks and no protective fence.

We would make the trip from Pacoima to the southeast corner of Sayre Street and Borden Avenue in the City of San Fernando.

When we'd arrive there, we'd often have to wait our turn -- you can't imagine how popular it was.

My granddad insisted on making the trek at least once each week.

Sometimes we'd encounter people who had driven there all the way from Long Beach.

It was that popular.

Oh, and it was free to anyone -- all they needed was their own bottle.


You see, they came for the spring water -- the tastiest and purist water in all of Los Angeles County.

It came out of a regular faucet -- the kind you could hook up to a garden hose.

It was just a pipe coming out of the ground, and it appeared that the grove of eucalyptus trees that grew nearby also thrived on the natural spring water.

Sometime in the '80s, one of my investigative reporting students at UCLA Extension needed a research project, so I described what you read above and challenged her to get the whole scoop.

Even then, she needed to track down the oldest of old timers at San Fernando City Hall to be able to piece together the story. The sad news she came back with was that it wasn't what it had been when I was a kid, as it was reported in the story below.



















































































In fact, the City of San Fernando embraced the well's popularity and came up with the money to make it a more attractive destination.

It wasn't long before people did more than fill their take-home water bottles -- they would wash things there on the brick surfaces.

The city started getting complaints of mothers washing their babies' diapers there.

But before the city could act on it, Mother Nature intervened.

On February 9, 1971, the Sylmar Earthquake caused a break in the pipe that fed the spring water to the four faucets.

About the same time, new water regulations required all city water to be treated with chlorine -- including this well, Well #4.

My student reported that the city ordered that the water from the natural spring be routed directly into the existing water system.

Adios, clean, pure, tasty spring water.

But as I stood there looking at the unmarked monument to some of my most pleasant childhood memories, I could close my eyes and remember what it was like when the City of San Fernando offered up its pure, tasty, natural spring water to anybody from anywhere.

For free.

Please subscribe to this blog -- and even leave comments here. Thanks.