Lake Hughes
| Lake Hughes | |
|---|---|
| Unincorporated community | |
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 Lake Hughes
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| Coordinates: 34°40′37″N 118°26′43″W / 34.6769294°N 118.4453598°WCoordinates: 34°40′37″N 118°26′43″W / 34.6769294°N 118.4453598°W | |
| Country |  United States of America |
| State |
 California
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| County | Los Angeles |
| Settled | 1873 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 10.687 sq mi (27.680 km2) |
| • Land | 10.623 sq mi (27.514 km2) |
| • Water | 0.064 sq mi (0.166 km2) 0.60% |
| Elevation | 3,228 ft (984 m) |
| Population (April 1, 2010) | |
| • Total | 649 |
| • Density | 61/sq mi (23/km2) |
| Time zone | Pacific (UTC-8) |
| • Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC-7) |
| ZIP codes | 93532 |
| Area code | 661 |
| FIPS code | 06-39556 |
| GNIS feature IDs | 1660877, 2583050 |
| U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Lake Hughes, California; U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Lake Hughes, California | |
Lake Hughes is an unincorporated community in the foothills of the Sierra Pelona Mountains, northwest of Palmdale and north of the Santa Clarita Valley, in the Angeles National Forest. It is on the sag pond waters of Lake Hughes and Elizabeth Lake. The community is rural in character, with a population of 649 in 2010, but also has a strong recreational element centered on the three lakes in the vicinity. The community of Elizabeth Lake is located just east of Lake Hughes, sharing the same ZIP code.
Nearby Elizabeth Lake, known then as La Laguna de Chico Lopez, was a watering locale on Spanish colonial and Mexican El Camino Viejo in Alta California and the Gold Rush era . From 1858 to 1861, Lake Hughes was on the route of the Butterfield Overland Mail, between the Widow Smith's Station and Mud Spring stage stops. The lake area was to the west of Rancho La Liebre, an 1846 Mexican land grant now part of Tejon Ranch.
Lake Hughes was named for Judge Griffith (Patrick) Hughes, who homesteaded the area around the turn of the 20th century. Settlers were drawn to the area because water was more plentiful than in the drier Antelope Valley.
In 1907 William Mulholland, superintendent of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, started work on the Elizabeth Lake Tunnel for transporting water in the Los Angeles Aqueduct from Owens Valley to Los Angeles. Less than a half a mile east of Lake Hughes, the five-mile-long (8 km) tunnel is 285 feet (87 m) under the valley floor. The tunnel was driven from both ends. The north portal is at Fairmont Reservoir and the south in Bear Canyon (now Portal Canyon) just off of Green Valley. This 11-foot-wide (3.4 m) tunnel was driven 27,000 ft (8.2 km) through solid rock and met in the center within 1½ inches (3.8 cm) in line and ⅝ inches (1.6 cm) in depth. Work was around the clock and averaged about 11 feet (3.4 m) per day. The Elizabeth Lake Tunnel was the largest single construction project on the Los Angeles Aqueduct and set speed records in its day.
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