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Mission Village
Robert E. Callahan | Culver City


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Robert E. Callahan's Mission Village at 5675 W. Washington Blvd. in Culver City, circa 1940s. "Natural color post card" issued by E.C. Kropp Co., which was active in Milwaukee from 1907-1956.

Themed auto parks were the tourist attractions of their day. Callahan moved his village to Sierra Highway when it stood in the path of the coming I-10 Santa Monica Freeway. It included several items that ended up at the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society's Heritage Junction Historic Park when his widow donated them in 1987, such as the Ramona Chapel and Red Schoolhouse.

According to the back of the postcard, Callahan also operated the Desert Outpost Motel and Cafe in Beaumont, at today's junction of Highway 60 and the I-10 Freeway. It was active in the 1940s. "Desert Outpost" was the name of one of Callahan's novels.


About Callahan's Old West.

Robert E. Callahan's Old West Trading Post, aka Indian Village, at 13660 Sierra Highway in "Outlaw Canyon" was the equivalent of an amusement park of its day.

Callahan (b. Oct. 27, 1892; d. Jan. 10, 1981), an entertainer and novelist, exploited America's fascination with all things Western — especially the romanticized notions of Old California as presented by Helen Hunt Jackson in her seminal 1884 novel, "Ramona" — by collecting objects with a connection, real or imagined, to the novelist and her work, and enticing the public to experience them.

Callahan's initial visions of creating an amusement park to be called Ramona Village morphed into the Mission Village Auto Court, which he opened in 1926 at 5675 W. Washington Blvd. in Culver City. Along with a themed hotel, he erected teepees for travelers and put his collections on display, including a chapel, little red schoolhouse and kiva (a small sweat lodge).

Auto parks were big business as the automobile came into age in the 1920s. There were a few auto parks in the Santa Clarita Valley, most notably McIntyre's camp at Castaic Junction, which was wiped out in the 1928 St. Francis Dam disaster.

In time, L.A. city builders had a different vision for Callahan's Culver City property. By the early 1960s, Mission Village stood in the way of the coming I-10 Santa Monica Freeway. So in 1962 Callahan closed Mission Village and moved it to 13660 Sierra Highway. (The freeway was completed in 1965).

Note: In Callahan's day, that part of Sierra Highway was known as Saugus. The county of Los Angeles later included it within the Acton-Agua Dulce Town Council's sphere of influence. It is commonly considered part of Agua Dulce today.

In 1987, Callahan's widow, Marion, donated several artifacts from the former Indian Village — including the Ramona Chapel and little red schoolhouse — to the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society.

The main building remained on the property, and from From 1986-2000, Marion Callahan leased it to the Canyon Theatre Guild. In 2000 the CTG moved back to downtown Newhall where the community theatre had started.


LW2874a: 9600 dpi jpeg from original postcard purchased by Leon Worden.
CALLAHAN'S MISSION VILLAGE

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Pollack Story

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Callahan & Carrie Jacobs Bond in Ramona Chapel 1927

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Ramona Cottage ~1930s

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~1940s

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Callahan with Hopi Indians Employees

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Good Luck Charm

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'Hopi Snake Dance' Booklet

CALLAHAN'S OLD WEST TRADING POST

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Description 1965

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1967 Visit x3

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Tom Shubert Story

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Ray Saniger Performs 1967/70 (Mult.)

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Summer of 1967

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1972 Horror Film

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Outlaw Saloon

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Hopi Shrine

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Red Schoolhouse

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Ramona Chapel

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Main Building

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Good Luck Charm
Wrong Address

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Good Luck Charm
Correct Address

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$1,000 Las Vegas Loot

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Schoolhouse Origin

The Callahan Collection: Donation Records


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Schoolhouse Arrives 1987

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Ramona Cradle x2

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