Mt. Wilson towers up over the San Gabriel Valley, big desert mountain with alluvial fans radiating down. When the smog is gone or nearly so, you can see it from Arcadia, a dominating presence.

In the very early 1950's someone decided that Mt. Wilson would be an ideal site for the primitive television transmissions of the time. Accordingly, facilities were placed there for this purpose, at the end of a long, winding road.

The silence was worth more than the television. But again, what isn't.