26 Jul Field Work at Paramount Movie Ranch

Hello! Jose Gonzalez here 🙂 These photos are from my first field visit, which was to the Paramount Movie Ranch in Agoura Hills, CA. This site is on the National Register of National Historic Places at the state level under NR Criterion A, as one of the last extant ‘movie ranch’ properties associated with Hollywood’s golden era during the 1920’s, 1930’s and 1940’s” (NPS Cultural Landscapes Inventory 2005).

A group of maintenance workers and SAMO youth members were constructing a fence along the road. The SAMO youth members were led by Antonio Solorio who is in charge of the youth program. The program aims to encourage young community members from the surrounding region to take an interest in working for environmental organizations such as the National Park Service. My duties while at the Paramount Ranch were to monitor the work site for any archaeological artifacts which may have been dug up by the work crew. (No artifacts were found on this project.) I was assisting Aaron Davis who is an archaeological technician here at SAMO. We took several pictures of the work site and utilizing a compass, noted the direction each picture was taken. The work crew used an auger to create holes where the fence posts were going to be placed. Modern day technology, such as the auger, has improved the speed and efficiency of NPS work crews. Even with this huge piece of machinery, only several fence posts were erected this day because of the scorching Southern California heat. Only several more feet of fencing is required to complete this section of the fence. During my lunch break, I walked around the ranch and spotted this three legged coyote running around the area. At first I didn’t know it was missing a leg until Aaron pointed it out. Poor little fella!