Hitler's Barn? Heil No!
This is one of the creepiest places, in one of the most beautiful settings I've ever been to in the eighteen years I've lived in Los Angeles.
This is the ruins of a barn, which is part of a 55-acre compound built by a group of Nazi sympathizers in the 1930s, with the intention of one day becoming the Los Angeles headquarters of one Adolph Hitler. No joke.
I first read about it about two weeks ago, on the London Daily Mail website of all places, and its a fascinating story.
Will Rogers originally owned the land, most of which later became Will Rogers State Park, but sold this chunk to a mining heiress named Jessie Murphy, in 1933. She, in turn, became friendly with a guy known to her as Herr Schmidt, who persuaded her to spend $4 million (equivalent to $66 million in today's economy) and turned the place into a Nazi fortress, complete with its own diesel generating station, and 335,000 gallon water tank.
The FBI raided the place on December 8, 1941, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, which ended the sick dream of the people who built it.
In the 60s and 70s, it became an artists colony and one time home to novelist Henry Miller, author of the 1934 book, "Tropic of Cancer", which was banned in the US upon publication on the grounds of obscenity.
Here's a link for more information:
naturalplane.blogspot.com/2012/03/adolf-hitlers-los-angel...
Hitler's Barn? Heil No!
This is one of the creepiest places, in one of the most beautiful settings I've ever been to in the eighteen years I've lived in Los Angeles.
This is the ruins of a barn, which is part of a 55-acre compound built by a group of Nazi sympathizers in the 1930s, with the intention of one day becoming the Los Angeles headquarters of one Adolph Hitler. No joke.
I first read about it about two weeks ago, on the London Daily Mail website of all places, and its a fascinating story.
Will Rogers originally owned the land, most of which later became Will Rogers State Park, but sold this chunk to a mining heiress named Jessie Murphy, in 1933. She, in turn, became friendly with a guy known to her as Herr Schmidt, who persuaded her to spend $4 million (equivalent to $66 million in today's economy) and turned the place into a Nazi fortress, complete with its own diesel generating station, and 335,000 gallon water tank.
The FBI raided the place on December 8, 1941, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, which ended the sick dream of the people who built it.
In the 60s and 70s, it became an artists colony and one time home to novelist Henry Miller, author of the 1934 book, "Tropic of Cancer", which was banned in the US upon publication on the grounds of obscenity.
Here's a link for more information:
naturalplane.blogspot.com/2012/03/adolf-hitlers-los-angel...