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Urban Archives Center
Descriptive Finding Guide for
1923 – 1982
.5 linear feet
Prepared by
Robert G. Marshall, Head Archivist
Jennifer M. Grimsley, Student Assistant
November 1985
[Revised October 2004]
Revised by
Autumn Hayner, J. Paul Getty Trust, Student Assistant
[Revised December 2004]
© 2004 Oviatt Library, California State University, Northridge. All rights reserved. For additional information, please contact Urban Archives Center .
The Charles Weeks Collection was donated to the Urban Archives Center by Carolyn L. Ryan, author of Winnetka's Heritage, in October 1980. In October 1985, the collection was archivally processed, and this descriptive finding guide written. The finding guide was prepared for web page access in October 2004 and updated, in part, under a generous gift from the J. Paul Getty trust. The collection is open to research without restrictions.
Charles Weeks was a visionary in the world of poultry and communal farming. Born on an Indiana farm in 1873, Mr. Weeks grew up with a thorough understanding of farming and farm life. In 1904, Mr. Weeks moved to Los Altos, California with a plan to raise poultry on a ten-acre farm he had purchased there. Unfortunately, due to inadequate water supply, Mr. Weeks’ Los Altos farm was doomed to failure.1 In 1909, Mr. Weeks moved to a five-acre farm on the outskirts of Palo Alto, California. It was here that he established new methods of raising poultry, concentrating birds into coops “instead of allowing them to roam.”2 Previous to this time, it was a commonly accepted farming practice to raise chickens in large, space consuming, chicken runs. The “Weeks Poultry Method” of raising poultry in compact houses became so successful that visitors from all over the world began arriving at Mr. Week’s farm to study and learn his method..3 “One visitor was socialist utopian William E. Smythe who promoted a vision of independently owned small farming communities. Residents of these communities would work together while sharing facilities, new technologies and marketing efforts. Charles Weeks adopted Smythes’ utopian ideals and set about establishing his version of such a community.”4
In 1916, Mr. Weeks established the “Weeks Poultry Colony,” also known as Runnymead, on land near his Palo Alto farm. With a heavily promoted motto of “one acre and independence,” Mr. Weeks experimental utopian community grew quickly, housing 400 families by 1922.5 Adding to the success of the colony was his monthly magazine publication called Intensive Little Farm which attracted new buyers to the area and kept the area thriving for years, peaking at over 1,000 citizens by the mid-1920’s.6
Charles Weeks, however, began losing interest in Runnymead by the early 1920’s. In 1923, he moved out of Northern California and engaged himself in actively promoting a new colony in Owensmouth (today’s Winnetka). Mr. Weeks had been invited to the San Fernando Valley by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce in 1920 to establish a series of one-acre farms in the area that would emulate the success of his Los Altos “poultry colony.” The colony Mr. Weeks created in the Winnetka area of the Valley eventually developed into a small farming community, which actively engaged in uplifting the spirit of its members, and aided in the social, intellectual and artistic enlightenment of the region.
Unfortunately, the great depression and the dramatic downturn of the Los Angeles economy drastically affected both the Owensmouth and Runnymead communities. By 1932, many of the farms faced bankruptcy and Mr. Weeks himself took a severe financial hit and lost almost everything. With the failure of the poultry colonies, Mr. Weeks relocated to Florida, where he lived out the remainder of his life growing papayas, raising fishing worms and skin diving.7 Charles Weeks died in Florida in 1964 but the impact of his communal experiment can still be seen in some areas of both Palo Alto and Winnetka where concentrated numbers of houses are located on large parcels of land.
Board of Directors of the Weeks Poultry Community, circa 1927. (View San Fernando Valley History Digital Archives Record)
The collection contains six issues of Intensive Little Farms magazine (1923-1925), and three issues of a serial titled, Chant-It-Clear (1927-1928). Both monthly issues were published by the Charles Weeks Poultry Colony in Owensmouth, California. Agricultural and community concerns are the focus of the two publications. The collection also contains newspaper clippings and various small pamphlets documenting Week's later activities in Florida.
The Charles Weeks Collection will be of particular interest to researchers studying the San Fernando Valley, its early residents, as well as those concerned with poultry farming.
[Note: Additional issues of Intensive Little Farms are housed at the New York Public Library. See Related Research Institutions below for contact information.]
The Urban Archives Center has several collections that relate to the history of the San Fernando Valley. Of particular interest for the study of the Owensmouth/Winnetka areas are:
1 manuscript box
This collection is comprised of various publications which document the activities and lifestyle of Charles Weeks and the farming community he helped create in the San Fernando Valley. While the earlier publications trace the beginnings of the Weeks Poultry Colony and Weeks own fondness for nature, the later published materials (particularly newspaper clippings) stress his allegiance to health and fitness. Also highlighted in these publications are the histories of Owensmouth and Winnetka, California as they developed under the influences of the Weeks family farming plan.
The files are arranged in alphabetical order by title and chronologically within.
There were no duplicate or non-archival records deposed from this collection.
(Microfilming was not done for this collection.)
[End Box Listing]
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