Three Points, California
Encyclopedia
Three Points is a scenic, sparsely populated settlement at the northwestern edge of Los Angeles County in the western Antelope Valley
. It is on the northern edge of the Angeles National Forest
, on the east side of Oakgrove Canyon where it opens out into Pine Canyon, 17.5 miles (28 km) north of Castaic
.
A roadside welcome sign said in 1991 that the Three Points population was 150. In 2008 a newer sign gave the population as 200.
in 1892 by the Lafferty family, 83-year-old Laura May Lafferty told a reporter in 1991. Her grandmother acted as a midwife, and her father, Ben Cherbbono, was a French Canadian
muleskinner
who led a team that helped grade the Ridge Route
highway in the early part of the 20th Century. Gookins Lake in the area was named after her mother’s family, she said.
In those days, Three Points was graced with a one-room school
house, Pine Canyon School, where in 1953 Mrs. Lillie Knighton taught children aged 6 to 14; in midwinter, a “huge pot-bellied stove . . . hissed with heat.”
The school also acted as a community center
; movies related to classwork were shown each Thursday night, open to adults.
Apart from the school, a tavern variously called the Three Point Cafe, Maxine’s, and Nancy’s Up the Road Cafe, was another center of social life. Bert Gookins was the first owner and builder — sometime in 1912, or maybe 1924, Bert Hart, Gookins’ grandson, recalled. It was a grocery store once, Hart said, and perhaps the restaurant and bar were added in the 1930s or 1940s. The building was occasionally occupied by a traveling dentist who used a foot-powered drill.
Michael and Anita Felix bought the cafe in 1984 with the idea of using its park-like grounds for special events. Two years later, Anita had a heart attack
and so the Felixes began leasing it to other operators.
When Maxine Martin had it in 1991 it was a combination bar, restaurant, social club and video-rental store featuring a decor that included
In November 1994 the Felixes resumed managing the cafe — but they opened it only on Saturdays and Sundays, and soon thereafter they put it up for sale.
In 2008 it was a private residence: An unusable gasoline pump in front was purely decorative, and the only sign of commerce was an outside vending machine
that dispensed bottled water
.
, near a mountain fittingly named Burnt Peak, and the town has been threatened by fire many times over the decades. The earliest story about Three Points in the Los Angeles Times, the closest metropolitan newspaper to the settlement, is dated August 24, 1927, and, like many such articles thereafter, it was reporting on a massive fire in the forested area.
Twenty-two years later, in 1949, another fire in the canyon made the news:
In July 2004, the Times reported, “two houses burned in Three Points, a place defined by the only business in town, a little red-shingled restaurant named the Three Point Cafe. A third house in the area burned Thursday.”
of West Lancaster, which operates Del Sur, Joe Walker, Hill View, Cottonwood, Rancho Vista, Sundown, Valley View, Leona Valley, and Quartz Hill schools, through the eighth grade
. http://google.com/search?q=cache:vfinlqzPRPQJ:www.westside.k12.ca.us/+westside+union+school+district&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=safari
The community is within the Antelope Valley Union High School District
and the Antelope Valley Community College District
.
to Three Points from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. one day a week.
Antelope Valley
The Antelope Valley in California, United States, is located in northern Los Angeles County and the southeastern portion of Kern County, California, and constitutes the western tip of the Mojave Desert...
. It is on the northern edge of the Angeles National Forest
Angeles National Forest
The Angeles National Forest of the U.S. National Forest Service is located in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County, southern California. It was established on July 1, 1908, incorporating the first San Bernardino National Forest and parts of the former Santa Barbara and San Gabriel...
, on the east side of Oakgrove Canyon where it opens out into Pine Canyon, 17.5 miles (28 km) north of Castaic
Castaic, California
Castaic, California, is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Los Angeles County, California, north of Santa Clarita and a few miles from Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park. It is approximately 39 miles from the downtown Los Angeles Civic Center. As of the 2010...
.
A roadside welcome sign said in 1991 that the Three Points population was 150. In 2008 a newer sign gave the population as 200.
Early days
Three Points was homesteadedHomestead Act
A homestead act is one of three United States federal laws that gave an applicant freehold title to an area called a "homestead" – typically 160 acres of undeveloped federal land west of the Mississippi River....
in 1892 by the Lafferty family, 83-year-old Laura May Lafferty told a reporter in 1991. Her grandmother acted as a midwife, and her father, Ben Cherbbono, was a French Canadian
French Canadian
French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...
muleskinner
Muleskinner
Muleskinner was a bluegrass supergroup, active during early '70's.-Early history:In the late '60's, Peter Rowan and David Grisman played together in a psychedelic band Earth Opera. The band didn't last longer than couple of years and Rowan went on to join Seatrain, where he met Richard Greene...
who led a team that helped grade the Ridge Route
Ridge Route
The Ridge Route, officially the Castaic-Tejon Route, was a two-lane highway running between Los Angeles and Kern counties, California. Opened in 1915 and paved with concrete between 1917 and 1921, the road was the first paved highway directly linking the Los Angeles Basin with the San Joaquin...
highway in the early part of the 20th Century. Gookins Lake in the area was named after her mother’s family, she said.
In those days, Three Points was graced with a one-room school
One-room school
One-room schools were commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In most rural and small town schools, all of the students met in a single room...
house, Pine Canyon School, where in 1953 Mrs. Lillie Knighton taught children aged 6 to 14; in midwinter, a “huge pot-bellied stove . . . hissed with heat.”
The school also acted as a community center
Community centre
Community centres or community centers or jumping recreation centers are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole community or for a specialised group within...
; movies related to classwork were shown each Thursday night, open to adults.
Apart from the school, a tavern variously called the Three Point Cafe, Maxine’s, and Nancy’s Up the Road Cafe, was another center of social life. Bert Gookins was the first owner and builder — sometime in 1912, or maybe 1924, Bert Hart, Gookins’ grandson, recalled. It was a grocery store once, Hart said, and perhaps the restaurant and bar were added in the 1930s or 1940s. The building was occasionally occupied by a traveling dentist who used a foot-powered drill.
Later years
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
and so the Felixes began leasing it to other operators.
When Maxine Martin had it in 1991 it was a combination bar, restaurant, social club and video-rental store featuring a decor that included
a jukebox, animal traps, rattlesnake skins, guns, old photographs, dollar bills pinned to the wall, a bottle of pickled pig feet and a sign that says “All tabs must be paid by the end of the month.”
In November 1994 the Felixes resumed managing the cafe — but they opened it only on Saturdays and Sundays, and soon thereafter they put it up for sale.
In 2008 it was a private residence: An unusable gasoline pump in front was purely decorative, and the only sign of commerce was an outside vending machine
Vending machine
A vending machine is a machine which dispenses items such as snacks, beverages, alcohol, cigarettes, lottery tickets, consumer products and even gold and gems to customers automatically, after the customer inserts currency or credit into the machine....
that dispensed bottled water
Bottled water
Bottled water is drinking water packaged in plastic or glass water bottles. Bottled water may be carbonated or not...
.
Government
As an unincorporated community, there is no local government, but there is a Three Points–Liebre Mountain Town Council, which in March 2009 was working on a community standards district document and on emergency preparedness.Fire danger
Three Points was settled in a wooded valley shrouded in volatile pine treesPine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
, near a mountain fittingly named Burnt Peak, and the town has been threatened by fire many times over the decades. The earliest story about Three Points in the Los Angeles Times, the closest metropolitan newspaper to the settlement, is dated August 24, 1927, and, like many such articles thereafter, it was reporting on a massive fire in the forested area.
AID SENT IN BRUSH FIRE : Blaze Unchecked on Ridge Route Hundred Men and Supplies Rush to Help 700 Already on Job Flames Advance to Three Points in Pine Canyon; No Lives Menaced. Los Angeles Times, August 24, 1927, ProQuestProQuestProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based electronic publisher and microfilm publisher.It provides archives of sources such as newspapers, periodicals, dissertations, and aggregated databases of many types. Its content is estimated at 125 billion digital pages...
Historical Newspapers database (Document ID: 369121072)
Twenty-two years later, in 1949, another fire in the canyon made the news:
A freakish south-southeast wind which sprang up suddenly yesterday afternoon sent the Sawmill Mountain fire in the Angeles National Forest raging out of control again threatening 75 homes in the Three Points settlement, 16 miles west of Lake Hughes.
In July 2004, the Times reported, “two houses burned in Three Points, a place defined by the only business in town, a little red-shingled restaurant named the Three Point Cafe. A third house in the area burned Thursday.”
Education
There is no longer a public school in the settlement. Three Points is part of the Westside Union School DistrictWestside Union School District
The Westside Union School District in Southern California serves the western parts of Palmdale and Lancaster and their immediate suburbs, including Quartz Hill, Del Sur, Leona Valley, Antelope Acres, and Neenach.It enrolls kindergarten through eighth grade...
of West Lancaster, which operates Del Sur, Joe Walker, Hill View, Cottonwood, Rancho Vista, Sundown, Valley View, Leona Valley, and Quartz Hill schools, through the eighth grade
Eighth grade
Eighth grade is a year of education in the United States, Canada, Australia and other nations. Students are usually 13 - 14 years old. The eighth grade is typically the final grade before high school, and the ninth grade of public and private education, following kindergarten and subsequent grades...
. http://google.com/search?q=cache:vfinlqzPRPQJ:www.westside.k12.ca.us/+westside+union+school+district&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=safari
The community is within the Antelope Valley Union High School District
Antelope Valley Union High School District
The Antelope Valley Union High School District is located in the Antelope Valley area of California, in northern Los Angeles County....
and the Antelope Valley Community College District
Antelope Valley Community College District
The Antelope Valley Community College District is the local college district serving Palmdale and Lancaster in California's Antelope Valley. The college is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.- About the AVCCD :...
.
Library
The Los Angeles County's public library sends its Antelope Valley bookmobileBookmobile
A bookmobile or mobile library is a large vehicle designed for use as a library. It is designed to hold books on shelves so that when the vehicle is parked the books can be accessed by readers. It usually has enough space for people to sit and read books inside. Mobile libraries are often used to...
to Three Points from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. one day a week.