25 June 2015

Local History - Verdugo Hills Golf Course

 

     There's a lot of local history associated with the current location of the Verdugo Hills Golf Course out along The 210 Freeway near Tujunga.  My own interests with the site go back to the late-1980s when I first golfed there.  After a lengthy hiatus, I  again played the hilly, 18-hole par-3 course on a regular basis from 2012 through March, 2014. The following image illustrates one of the high points of my [strictly amateurish] golfing experiences at Verdugo Hills.


     One of the best sources for historical and other information related to the Verdugo Hills Golf Course site has been nicely provided and summarized by Densho.org. Their entry for the Tuna Canyon site states:

     "A Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp  named La Tuna Camp opened in May of 1933 located at 6330 Tujunga Canyon Blvd. in Tujunga,  about  fourteen miles northwest of  downtown Los An-geles and six miles north of Glendale. The CCC camp was taken over by the U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service on December 8, 1941, for the purpose of detaining and identifying enemy aliens.  The official government name of the camp was 'Tuna Canyon Detention Station, Immigration and Naturalization Service'".

Tuna Canyon Detention Station c.1943
Courtesy of the Merrill H. Scott Family and Little Landers Historical Society


     More recently, the 60-acre site of Verdugo Hills Golf Course has been the subject of a developmental / legal matter between the owner Snowball Investments West, L.P., and local residents. While the issue of whether to build a new subdivision of homes or to preserve the recreational and historical aspects of this location has been played out over the course of several years, the Verdugo Hills Golf Course has remained a nice for option for those of us simply looking for a place to get outside for a little fresh air and exercise.


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