Zanja Madre facts for kids
The Zanja Madre (which means "Mother Trench" in English) was the very first water channel that brought water to the early settlement of Los Angeles. This important channel carried water from the Los Angeles River.
The Zanja Madre was an open ditch made of earth. It was built by the community's workers within a month of the town being founded. This water system was vital for people to use water at home and to water their farm fields west of the town. Having this water supply was key to the survival and growth of the community.
Later, after 1884, brick pipes about 3 to 3.5 feet wide were built to make the system better. However, as more people moved to Los Angeles and needed more water for farming, the Zanja Madre couldn't keep up. The system was eventually stopped by 1904, though some parts were still used to manage storm water. A special worker called a Zanjero was in charge of keeping it working.
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How the Zanja Madre Started
The Pueblo de Los Angeles was a town officially set up by Spain. Spain had three main types of settlements in Alta California:
- A presidio was a military fort.
- A mission was a religious center.
- A pueblo was a civil town for people to live and work.
These pueblos were meant to provide food and goods for the military, instead of relying on the missions. Governor Felipe de Neve was very serious about creating this new town. He made detailed plans for how it would be built. His plans included how water would be brought to the settlement. He said that all the land that could be watered should be checked. The best spot to get water should be marked so it could reach the most land.
The governor also wanted the town to be on slightly high ground. This way, all the farm fields that needed water could be seen from the town. This meant the water source itself had to be even higher up.
The Zanja Madre was built near where Broadway is today, at the base of the Elysian Hills, right by the river. A simple dam made of earth and brush, called a toma, was built to collect water. This water then flowed into the ditch. The ditch ran along a raised slope down to the town. Once in the town, the water split into many smaller ditches that went to different low-lying areas.
In the 1850s, a large water wheel was built. It lifted water up to the Zanja Madre and then into the main brick water tank. This tank was located in what is now the Plaza, at the end of Olvera Street. Floods often damaged the water wheel. The toma (dam) was also washed away several times before a stronger wooden one was built.
Making the System Better Over Time
The soft, sandy tunnel of the Zanja Madre often collapsed. People tried to fix it by lining it with bricks. However, the entire water channel was stopped in 1884 after a flood destroyed the wooden dam.
Even before this, by 1878, people knew that the Zanja system needed many improvements. Some ideas included changing the smaller ditches into pipes and making larger areas out of concrete. After the last dam failure, the earth toma and open ditch were used again while bigger plans were made.
In 1888, the city planned to put pipes in most of the existing Zanjas. But they didn't have enough money to finish the work. The tunnel at the start of the Zanja Madre was rebuilt. Much of the channel was lined with brick or concrete. By 1893, there were about 50 miles of Zanjas inside the city and another 40 miles outside the city limits.
Over the years, the part of the Zanja Madre that went around the north edge of the River Train Yard was moved many times. Eventually, as the city built newer water systems, railroad construction destroyed most of the old channels.
Finding Old Parts of the Zanja Madre
Different parts of the Zanja Madre have been found and recorded during construction projects over the years. In 1978, an archaeologist named Julia Costello found a section of the Zanja Madre while the Plaza de Dolores was being built.
In 2000, two people dug up a section of the Zanja on a steep slope near a Broadway parking garage. News outlets like the L.A. Weekly and Los Angeles Times gave them credit for finding it. Later, archaeologists working on the MTA Gold Line project studied the uncovered brick channels. They thought they would find more parts along the line near the River Yard, but they didn't. It was generally believed that the Zanja had been destroyed during railroad yard construction over the years. Since that land was private, no archaeological surveys had been done there.
In 2005, MTA construction crews unexpectedly found more sections of the brick Zanja Madre. Archaeologists were called in to look at the finds. Most of these were red-brick channels, about the size of large pipes. Now, serious studies and records are being made to get the Zanja Madre routes added to historical lists.
In 2014, during digging for the Blossom Plaza project on North Broadway, a 100-foot-long section was discovered. A 40-foot part of this Zanja Madre section was removed. It was planned to be shown at different places. This removal was criticized by newspapers like the Daily News and by KCET Departures.
According to the City Surveyor, Tony Pratt, a 127-year-old leather book with a hand-drawn map from city records helped identify the spot where newly found brick and mortar pipes were located.
Images for kids
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A water wheel on the Los Angeles River at the start of the Zanja Madre in 1863.
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An 1888 map showing the path of the Zanja Madre.
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A photo of Olvera Street with the brickwork showing where the Zanja Madre ran through the old town. Notice how it passes right next to a fountain, which was common.
