Minnie Hill-Palmer House and Dynamite Shed

The Hill-​Palmer Cottage is the only remaining homestead cottage in the San Fernando Valley. In 1862, as part of the Homestead Act, the US gave away 160 acres of federal land in the West to any U.S. citizen willing to pay a small fee, make improvements to the land, and live on the property for at least five years. In the spring of 1886, James David and Rhoda Jane Hill homesteaded 110 acres in Chatsworth Park South.
The Dynamite Shed is located nearby. It was built between 1890 and 1900. The shed housed dynamite that was used to construct the Santa Susana Pass railroad tunnel from 1898 through 1904. The shed is made from quarried stone and is located on the southeastern portion of the Chatsworth Park South. In 2007 it was incorporated into the Minnie Hill Palmer Residence Historic-​Cultural Landmark #133.
Since Valentine’s Day 2008, Chatsworth Park South has been closed after lead and other harmful contaminants were discovered in the soil. The contaminants came from lead pellets and clay pigeon fragments left behind from when the property, previously owned by Roy Rogers, was used as a gun club facility in the 1960s.
The city has since chopped down, or as they say grubbed, 166 of the park’s trees and fenced-​off the area in preparation for the clean-​up effort. Seven years later the effort has slowly been grinding through the bureaucratic and budgetary process. As of Jan 20^th, 2015 the city’s request for bids to perform the remediation work has been delayed until late February.