Pepperdine Libraries Joins Malibu Creek State Park's 50th Anniversary Celebration
On Saturday, September 26, California State Parks hosted Malibu Creek State Park’s 50th anniversary celebration. Centered on the theme “Stories Live Here,” the event featured food trucks, live music, arts and crafts, and stories told under the stars by local historians, scientists, and community members. Exhibitor booths from two dozen local organizations were another highlight.
Pepperdine Libraries joined the celebration with a table staffed by Special Collections and Archives librarians Bailey Berry and Chris Miehl. They shared the history of the land with informative posters highlighting objects from our collections and showcasing three major developments from before the state park was founded:
Crags Country Club
Established in 1909, this 2,300-acre private retreat for prominent Angelenos featured a timber lodge and a 50-foot dam forming Crags Lake. Today, member Willis Hunt’s 1920s estate serves as the park’s visitor center. Collections included in this display are the Joseph A. Ward Family Photographs and Eric Weinberg Collection of Malibu Matchbooks, Postcards, and Ephemera.
The Rindge Dam
Built in 1926 by May Rindge for ranch irrigation, this 100-foot dam quickly filled with sediment and was decommissioned in 1967. Now part of the park, state agencies are working to remove the structure to clear fish barriers and restore the watershed. Collections included in this display are the Rindge and Adamson Family Papers and the Malibu Times Collection.
20th Century Fox Ranch
Purchased in 1946, the 2,700-acre ranch became a famed filming location hosting iconic productions such as Planet of the Apes (1968) and M*A*S*H (1972–1983). Visitors to this day can still see rusted vehicles used in M*A*S*H. Collections included in this display are the Torpin Family Collection.
Through the preservation and sharing of the Malibu Historical Collection, Pepperdine Libraries works to promote Malibu’s history and foster meaningful partnerships with local historians, researchers, and community members. Celebrations such as the 50th anniversary celebration provide an opportunity to link academic preservation with community storytelling, ensuring that primary source documents, photographs, and artifacts become dynamic resources for enhancing everyone’s collective understanding of Malibu’s rich cultural, environmental, and cinematic legacy.
For those interested in researching objects in Pepperdine’s special collections, email us at specialcollections@pepperdine.edu.