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Burnin' Down The Set
The California wildfires of 2003 are now in the history books as some of the most destructive forest fires on record. We all watched the news when those fires were raging, but what few of us knew at the time was that in the midst of the inferno, a bit of Mopar and Hollywood history was going up in flames as well. No joke, what was "Hazzard County" on the ever popular Dukes of Hazzard series was completely incinerated.
Valencia Oaks Ranch was, until recently, owned by Warner Brothers Studios and was transformed in Hazzard County for the filming of the series in the early 1980's. Located north of Los Angeles, the property was also famous for having been the site where the television series MASH was filmed, as well as Little House on the Prairie. It was at the Valencia Oaks Ranch where Dodge Charger Registry President Wayne Wootenlocated most of the survising original General Lee Chargers used in the series, still sitting outside Cooter's Garage. Wooten's rescue of those cars and Warner Brothers' great cooperation has been well documented, but we've gotta' be doubly thankful today he succeeded in that effort of all those Generals would've likely been lost.
Controversy has surrounded the site of Hazzard County beginning several years ago, when Warner Brothers sold the property. With the real estate market booming in Cali and the remote location of lessening value to W.B. the decided to sell the vast acreage to New Hall Land Development. Shortly before the sale, the familiar structures of Hazzard County were torn down to make the land more appealing to the buyers. Thus, Cooter's Garage, the Boar's Nest, Uncle Jesse's house, and a number of other sets were bulldozed, and only bits and pieces remained.
The land development was then held up for over a year by a freak environmentalist named John Quigley, who decided to park his butt atop a 400-year-old oak tree to keep New Hall Land Development from relocating the tree to another site so they could begin building roads and new structures. The pinhead sat in the tree 70 days until a court order and some cops got him down, that delayed things long enough for the tree to remain in place until the fires came. It's hard to kill a 400-year-old tree, so the tree survived the fires, but little else around it did, thanks to the stubborn good intentions of an environmentalist. Had the company been allowed to clear the intended land, it would have priovided a fire break that would have saved perhaps thousands of acres. Don't you love these guys?
The big news is though, for all you Dukes of Hazzard fans, all those familiar scenes you've become accustomed to watching on television are now burned to a crisp. The trees are gone, the grass is gone, the whole place looks like it was hit withan atom bomb. What land developers couldn't do, destroy Hazzard County, has been done by Mother Nature. General Lee fan club President Travis Bell has a lot of video of the property, photos too, and it's amazing the before and after comparisons he's assembled. Most of the roads and locations used in the series were still quite recognizable before the fires, but it's all gone now.
So, remember Hazzard County for what it once was and be grateful part of the show was filmed in Georgis, because those sites still exist, but most of the places made famous in the series are litterally dust in the wind now.
Interestingly, through all the trials with the ownership of the property and the huge fires, Uncle Jesse's water tower near his home still stands definately. It's charred, it's all by itself, but it's the last remaining structure from the California version of Hazzard County still remaining. By the time you read this though, it too may have come down. Say what you will, perhaps it's best that Hazzard went out in a blaze of glory. Farewell Hazzard, we'll remember you the way you were.
