| Lake Sherwood Dam | |
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Lake Sherwood Dam in 1907. Photograph by John Sparhawk Appleton. |
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| Country | United States |
| Location | Ventura County, California |
| Coordinates | |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction cost | $2,000 (1904) |
| Owner(s) | Lake Sherwood Association |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Arch, constant-radius |
| Height | 45 ft (14 m) |
| Length | 270 ft (82 m) |
| Impounds | Potrero River |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Lake Sherwood |
| Capacity | 2,600 acre·ft (3,200,000 m3)[1] |
The Lake Sherwood Dam, known also as The Potrero Dam or simply Sherwood Dam, is a 270-foot long concrete arch dam in Thousand Oaks, California, completed in 1904. Its construction led to the creation of the 165-acre Potrero Lake (Lake Sherwood) over the following winter. As such, Lake Sherwood was the first man-made lake of its size; the Sherwood Dam remains one of the oldest standing dams in California.[1]
Construction was led by W. H. Matthiessen, a rancher who owned what is today Hidden Valley, Lake Sherwood, and Thousand Oaks. Originally called the Alturas Dam, it was built as a desperate means to contain the water from four main streams draining into a sixteen-mile catchment basin. Potrero Lake was formed that winter, its sudden existence attracting local photographers and filmmakers alike to the exotic shores. The reservoir also directly inspired civil engineers such as William Mulholland, who began drawing up his Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1905. The Malibou Lake Mountain Club built a similar dam nearby not long after,[2] as did May Knight Rindge.[3] Matthiessen's son Christy allowed Douglas Fairbanks to shoot his masterpiece Robin Hood around his lake in 1921. As a result, the ranch became better known as Sherwood Forest; the lake since being known as Lake Sherwood.
Much of Matthiessen's Ranch, including the dam, was granted to his son's ex-wife, Elsie Canterbury, in 1923. That same year, the area southwest of Lake Sherwood was subdivided into 2,500 plots by Elsie and her new husband. "The idea was to offer a country club setting, lake privileges, bridle paths and a clubhouse for the affluent people of the early 20s. "[4] However, construction of the estates was halted by the stock market crash of 1929, and Elsie Canterbury was forced to sell the land west of her lake to William Randolph Hearst.[5] Hearst profited much from the geographic beauty created by Sherwood Dam, specifically from the booming film industry. For example, he allowed Warner Brothers to film The Adventures of Robin Hood on his picturesque landscape. It ended up being the highest-grossing film of 1938.
After Hearst's death in 1951, the lakeside began to be developed into private homes, though Elsie Canterbury stubbornly fought for her legal right to the entire lake until her death in 1975. Amidst safety concerns in 1984, Lake Sherwood was drained so that the dam could be inspected. To the chagrin of nearby boaters, It was updated despite having no urgent safety problems.
Few residents of Thousand Oaks today recognize the origins of Lake Sherwood. Even after its reinforcement in the 1980s, the dam remains susceptible to large floods and high-magnitude earthquakes.[6]