National Forest Inn
The Ridge Route
Real-Photo Postcard of the National Forest Inn, ca. 1920.
The National Forest Inn was located on U.S. Forest land along the Ridge Route, about 12.2 miles north of Castaic.
According to Harrison Scott ("Ridge Route: The Road That United California," 2002), it was
built in the late 1910s by a Mr. Courtemanche, who later built the French Village in Newhall. It offered
food, rest and gasoline, the resort being run for a time by Frank Lambert and William Rose and their wives,
while Joe W. Palmer ran the garage. A fire started in the garage on Friday, Oct. 14, 1932, and the whole place
burned down. It was not rebuilt because the next year, the Ridge Alternate was to bypass the location.
LW2185: 4800 dpi jpeg from 120 dpi jpeg
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