Griffith Ranch

The bronze calls the film immortal. The Birth of a Nation opened in 1915 out of Thomas Dixon's Klan novel, the second Ku Klux Klan formed that year and recruited with it, and the NAACP fought it city by city. What Griffith actually shot on this ground is thinner than the plaque suggests. The Massacre and The Battle at Elderbush Gulch were made here in 1912 and 1913; the famous features have never been documented on the ranch. It is a propane yard now.

What the plaque says

Originally part of the San Fernando Mission lands, this ranch was purchased by David Wark Griffith, revered pioneer of silent motion pictures, in 1912. It provided the locale for many western thrillers, including "Custer's Last Stand", and was the inspiration for the immortal production, "Birth of a Nation". It was acquired by Fritz B. Burns in 1948, who has perpetuated the Griffith name in memory of the great film pioneer. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 716 Plaque placed by the California State Park Commission in cooperation with Mr. Fritz B. Burns; the History and Landmarks Association of the San Fernando and Antelope Valley Parlors, Native Sons and Native Daughters of the Golden West; and the San Fernando Mission Parlor No. 280, Native Daughters of the Golden West, December 13, 1959.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Colorado Street Bridge — 17 mi
  Beaux-Arts concrete arches curving 150 feet above the Arroyo Seco, opened in 1913 and later a link in Route 66.
• Santa Monica Pier — 20 mi
  Where the Mother Road runs out of continent, and where the End of the Trail sign gives the drive somewhere to finish.
• Mission San Gabriel Arcangel — 22 mi
  The fourth Alta California mission, built on Tongva land with Tongva labor, rebuilt after arson and now telling that story straight.

More markers nearby

• San Fernando Cemetery — 3.0 mi
• Mission San Fernando Rey de España — 3.1 mi
• Brand Park (Memory Garden) — 3.2 mi
• Rómulo Pico Adobe (Ranchito Rómulo) — 3.4 mi