Corriganville: Then and Now 2008
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- Опубликовано: 15 июн 2008
- My 2008 return visit to the Corriganville (Hopetown) Movie Ranch outside of Simi Valley California, site of the old annual Corriganville Grand Prix Motorcycle race with historical pics and video added. I had my dates wrong however, the first time I was here was when I was 6 years old in 1964 and the last time was in 1975.
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Awesome...thanks for posting this!!! My Dad was a member of the Dirt Diggers MC Club and we went to the Corriganville and later Hopetown races many years....great memories...
thanks for sharing, My husband lived there when Crash was there and when Bob Hope bought it, we swam in the lake Tarzen was filmed there a well filled it, so many stories of the ranch, I remember some of the manison family came and Jim Howell , Larry dad and him had to kick them off they tried to move in by the lake, BTW Crash left his horse Crash there I was ablbe to feed the most beautiful horse.. ♥ I personally lived by the back gates on smith rd....
I went to Corriganville with my family in the early 1960s when it was still a working ranch. It was pretty cool. The original ranch was 2,000 acres and now it's only 200 acres or less.
Glad I have the memories. I have a Polaroid of my sister and I standing next to the Fort Apache sign.
Crash Corrigan died of a heart attack and the property was sold to Hope who was going to develop the land. Much of it was developed.
Thanks for posting this, my dad used to race there back in the 70s, I remember John Hately he was one of my hero's as a kid along with my pops Dave Bastian.
Very cool... thank you!
Similar story, I first went there as a child to see the movie sets... then later, my Dad brought me as a teen for the races, and I returned to race it myself -- getting bogged down in the infamous mudhole and DNF'ing. Thank you for the memories...
Scott
That was fun!
Thankyou for posting it and I now want to go back there.
Raced it in 1975 and just came across the pictures.
Great memories of the mud hole. My brother used to race against John Hatley every weekend on a 650 Triumph. I believe Hatley was riding a BSA 500 single at the time and was smoking fast.
Good Times !!!!!
You should have been where we were (in the Western Town). John would come into that left hander fling it totally sideways and just hold all the way around the turn.
My closest high school friends had been next door neighbors of the Hately's when younger. We always took our motors to Jack anytime they needed machine work. Mark Hately was in our same high school class, spent much of his time at my next door neighbors as they both rode for Mid Valley CZ. In what must have been the last year for Hopetown we were walking in when Mark pulled up alongside and told us to hop in his van. Their pit location backed up to the lake (we didn't know at the time). As we got near the pits Mark jogs left into the lake (it was dry) runs its full length and backdoors entry into the pit. You just know that was an insider move that a select few had used for years.
Thank you for taking the time to make this video. Brings back many memories that SHOULD be shared and cherised. Believe it or not, the guy who made the Catalina Grand Prix possible in Dec 2010 (Vinnie Manzaek) is working on bringing the Hopetown (Corriganville) Grand Prix back - ONE TIME - and his goal is Dec 2-3-4, 2011. Let's hope he can pull it off. Hell, he pulled Catalina off. That is incredible enough. Cross your fingers and stay tuned!
Hey, I was standing a few feet from you watching Hateley win the 500 Expert (maybe it was the Open class). Was also there the year the Europeans first showed up. Thanks for posting!
Randy, I loved Hopetown, too, and got to race it once, in 1972. It was a fantastic track, and it makes me sad to see all the great tracks gone now. Saddleback, Carlsbad, Bay Mare, Indian Dunes (sometimes great, not often enough!), Valley Cycle Park, and a lot of others. Those were when there were many kinds of bikes, and the travel was just beginning to come into its own. My first bike had 3 1/2" of travel in the rear, not the 12" or more now.
By the way, really excellent video, and nice memories. I hope your dad is still with you.
Great video !! I lived in the knolls around 81 or 82 and rode all over that place, awesome riding and thanks for sharing, have fond memories.
wow great stuff!! I remember all of it..I have some super footage of the Hope Town races...brings back great memories...my friend Denise raced there....great times.thank you for sharing!
never been there..michigan boy....but remember those races well....you made a great video !!!!!!...thanks
I was there in the mid 70's Great fun!
AMA put on a great race.
The Memories
thanks man ive always wondered the history about this place i had no idea they had bike races that is awesome.thanks again
I raced there one year, in '72
Wow....I was there...!!
Was a kid watching the European riders kicking but..!
Later...even raced there only one time...was 15 years old. Was Hope town.
Great video........!!! I was there ...!
@nyc783 When we first started going there for the races, all the sets were in place. In fact one year we took some friends and a buddy and I went exploring the entire day, didn't watch a single race just went looking for all the sets, caves etc etc... Found 'em all too. Then they built the freeway and it seems to me that things just started going downhill from there especially the fires. I am happy to say that I was at the last race in 1975.
The Corriganville Ranch was bought by Bob Hope in 1965 and called Hopeville. Except for occassional motorcycle races, the place closed one year later, although the races continued to be held. Ray "Crash" Corrigan moved to a mobile home park in Oregon, where he remained until he died in 1976. Corriganville was divided by the Simi Valley Freeyway (118) and developers bought the property for
the purpose of building condos, etc. Only the arena/entrance was built into homes.The rest was a park.
This is great for somebody like me who grew up during Simi's heyday. I went to the the Hopetown races every year and I also remember the Europeans coming and tearing the US riders a new one. It was something to see and it put the US riders on notice that they needed to do some serious work.
I thought Corriganville was bought by Bob Hope in the early sixties, but whatever...great video!!
It was called Hope town in the early 70's not "79" The Hope town races were a highlight of world wide competition and us in Simi looked forward to them every year!! Very cool bro thanx for the memories!
Thanks Randy for helping to keep the past alive. Its seems strange to me that so many actors who are paid such inflated amounts seem to care less about shooting locations of their Home town of Hollywood and all the Studios and surrounding locations. When the Corriganville and lost 40 acres was sold, it should have been preserved along with the Iverson Ranch, The Brown Derby and so many other places in Hollywood. some how around the 1970's, every real estate salesman, Broker and builder came out of the Hollywood work and wheeled and dealed the historic Town of Holly wood and surrounding area into a Giant McDonalds Strip Mall and Condo. Its very sad
Most of them are Leftist morons with a pretty face....
On occasion, I like to hike the site with a dog. Mostly all that's left are foundations and a few plumbing pipes protruding up through the ground. The movie ranch was destroyed by wildfires in 1970 and 1979. Nearby, see trains exiting the western end of the Santa Susana Pass tunnel complex. Unfortunately there is another fire, right now, at Corriganville and its access roadway Smith Road---there is a permanent movie studio/set LLP Production Services on Smith Road just west of the entrance to Corriganville Park. After the fire danger has passed, I will visit the park once again.
Might add one more comment about Corriganville. The Fort Apache set was the only one which was not destroyed by the fire. It was torn down. The set was originally built for one movie of the same name, and not built well to begin with. By 1961, all of the set was gated so people could not enter it, for fear of it collapsing. It was demolished by 1963. The rest of the sets were toast (sorry for the pun). Those motorcycle races video gave us one last chance to see some of the remaining sets.
Man what a cool video,I remember back when it was called the Hopetown grand prix sad to say I never raced it, I cant even remember why, but it was one of the only races I did'nt mind being a spectator at and being a desert racer this place was close to home San Fernando valley.
Awesome video!! I've lived in Simi my whole life, and I've known about Corriganville's old movie history, but I didn't know anything about the races (I'm only 23). That's so cool, love learning about this area's history!
Thanks! I just did it mostly on the fly while we were down there visiting. Glad you liked it :)
Not one mention of the club that created and made the iconic races at Corriganville / Hopetown possible all those years....
None of which would have happened without, and so please thank the almost 70 year old Dirt Diggers Motorcycle Club !
I remember when the sign had been changed to "Dopetown"
when I was a kid
I was there when Torsion Hallmen blew Mulder away lol I was 18 pop had a Yamaha.BSA/Kawasaki dealer Shop in North Hollywood and we sponsored a racer I think he was Larry Pruit at ASCOT? And a CHECKER racer too at Corriganville on his Big Bear Yamaha Scrambler. Too long ago to remember lol
Corriganville was used as a Western Movie Ranch from 1937 to about 1963. It was also an amusement park from 1949-1963 on weekends. The closing of Corriganville was not due to Ray "Carsh Corrigan" dying or going out of business-he bought the 1500 acre ranch in 1937 for $115,000. He went through a divorce and his wife contested the Ranch as community property. It was hung up in the courts from 1954 to 1963 when the court ordered the ranch sold for 8.5 million and the proceeds divided up. PT1
That's cool to know. Thank you :) I went to the website and saw the photo. Weird seeing him with a number other than 98. I've been to Perris in the past for sprint car races. It'd be fun to see John race again after all this time :)
Anybody remember an MX racer by the last name Mathews? He lived on Cochran St in Simi Valley and raced in the early 70s. I remember “cookie the wonder dog” from that era too😃
I used to mountain bike on the GP track and also snuck in the back area and do some MX.
@BonnieDoll99 : Wow, that would be COOL! I'd love to see the bikes racing there again!!! Glad you liked the little video :)
@nyc783 I don't actually remember, we were there so many times and I was pretty young for a lot of it. My last time there as a kid was in '75 and I was 16. I'm 53 now. I have lots of memories of exploring the western town sets (2 of them) the caves, the villages, the lake, Apache village, the bad guy hideouts etc etc... But I don't really remember in which visits those experiences happened. I'm pretty sure in 1975 I was more interested in the racing then... ?
Randyr3:
Yes, the freeway played a major role in destroying both Corriganville (or Hopeville) and Iverson ranches. Iverson looks WORSE today, with the freeway very visable and condos all over the place! At least Corriganville was saved by the city/park district, or at least the areas used for filmmaking.
I am not sure, but think I read that they used Iverson for motorcycle riding as well.
The sets at Corriganville were deteriorating for lack of care. Loved to have seen in in its prime.
Gunsmoke was filmed there for over 20 years.
@radiomanyt
What shop was that? I bet I'd remember it. Lots of people I hung out with were big into dirt bikes back then.
I probably saw you race. I started going to the Hopetown races in '69 when I was 10.
Hi Randy - do you have any footage of Muntz? It was located on Tierra Rejada at the other (Western) end of Simi Valley.
Also remember muntz and baymare in Moorpark
Thanks for the memories. Do you remember Indian Dunes?
I sure do!!
Randy Robbins
I grew up in the San Fernando Valley. My parents traveled by covered wagon in the 50s to Santa Monica than Granada hills. I used to see a girl at the Spahn Ranch. I met manson there once while riding motorcycle and I knew he was looney. I miss all those places of my yesteryear. And Corriganville was one of them because there was no bigger fan of cowboys than me. That reminds me we also went out to William S. Hart ranch in Saugus. Sorry just rambling.
I do! Me and my dad would go dirt bike riding, me on my little mini bike😉.
Randy:
When you were at the races in 1975, do you remember seeing the Fort Apache set?
Very possible. I did that whole thing on the fly while I was just standing there. My dad had started bringing me there every year from about 1964. The last time I was there was, I believe 1975. That was a long time ago and my memory is a bit blurry on the actual dates of things now.
@nyc783 Cool man. Thanks for the info. :)
@nyc783 I sent you an email. By the 70's Triumph's were pretty much gone from off road, motocross type racing. Earlier on in the 60's Triumph's, BSA's etc... were common in American off road racing. The fact that John Hateley won on a 500cc Triumph in 1975 was a little odd because Husky's, Yamaha's, Honda's etc etc...Were the bikes of choice.
tarzan was filmed there too. I think the sound stages was still standing in 1975 then the ass hole kids burned them down.
There is a other movie set not far from there up in the hills that is still being used near box canyon
When it comes to Corriganville, I think of the Lone Ranger, not motorcycles.