Workman & Temple Family Homestead Museum

05/30/2026

The second part of a post on The Homestead Blog, highlighting a May 1925 press photo of accused Los Angeles bunco artists Thomas M. Hennessey and Harry D. Hibbs, who plundered around $500,000 from investors for a preposterous railroad merger scheme, looks further at media accounts of investigations into their shenanigans. Part three is tomorrow: https://homesteadmuseum.blog/2026/05/30/the-deal-was-a-huge-bunco-game-a-press-photograph-of-alleged-ponzi-schemers-thomas-m-hennessey-and-harry-d-hibbs-may-1925-part-two/

by Paul R. Spitzzeri We continue our look at a remarkable white-collar criminal financial scheme concocted around an alleged massive railroad merger involving brokers Thomas M. Hennessey and Harry …

05/30/2026

Part one of the latest post on The Homestead Blog, featuring a May 1925 press photo from the Museum's collection, looks into the arrests and early media coverage of alleged railroad merger brokers Thomas M. Hennessey and Harry D. Hibbs, accused of pocketing around $500,000 from investors on promised fantastic returns of $10 for each dollar handed over. Part two is tomorrow: https://homesteadmuseum.blog/2026/05/29/accused-of-being-get-rich-quick-wallingfords-a-press-photograph-of-alleged-ponzi-schemers-thomas-hennessey-and-harry-d-hibbs-may-1925-part-one/

by Paul R. Spitzzeri In a society always primed by get-rich-quick schemes of seemingly infinite variety and especially during economic boom times, the accounts of Ponzi schemes, bunko scams, confid…

05/29/2026

The newest "Read All About It" post on The Homestead Blog, highlighting historic LA-area newspapers in the Museum's collection, summarizes the contents of the 28 May 1874 edition of the Los Angeles Express. Covered were such topics as Prudent Beaudry's water system for the Bunker Hill section; breakwater dredging at what is now the Port of Los Angeles; agricultural conditions; and more: https://homesteadmuseum.blog/2026/05/28/read-all-about-it-in-the-los-angeles-express-28-may-1874/

by Paul R. Spitzzeri Though much more modest in scope and range that later examples, the first boom in greater Los Angeles that arose in the late 1860s and continued into the middle of the next dec…

05/28/2026

In the growing temperance (anti-alcohol) movement in Los Angeles, reformers got a proposed ordinance to ban saloons in the Angel City on a ballot for a 3 June 1905 election. The first part of a post on The Homestead Blog, highlighting a postcard by Michael Rieder on the subject, looks at coverage in city newspapers on 27 May and we'll return with a part two concerning the canvass on the 3rd of June: https://homesteadmuseum.blog/2026/05/27/los-angeles-is-going-dry-a-postcard-by-michael-rieder-on-the-angel-city-anti-saloon-election-of-spring-1905-part-one/

by Paul R. Spitzzeri The passage of the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in January 1919 and taking an effect a year later, which sought to end the making, selling and tra…

05/27/2026

Sunday, May 31, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

Untold Stories of Los Angeles Landmarks

Sign up here: https://www.homesteadmuseum.org/event-details/untold-stories-of-los-angeles-landmarks

History blogger Etan Rosenbloom is on a mission to document every LA County landmark on the National Register of Historic Places.
In this talk, Etan will share stories that aren’t often told about some of LA’s most fascinating historic spots. You’ll unravel a 130-year-old architectural mystery, and hear about the legal shenanigans swirling around a vital piece of Chumash rock art. You’ll meet the teenage telegraph operator who exposed a newspaper conspiracy, and learn surprising details about how one of the world’s most famous houses was financed.
Along the way, Etan will speak to why landmarks are such uniquely powerful tools for understanding both history, and how communities continue to develop.

Etan Rosenbloom is the founder, blogger and social mediator of Etan Does LA, a project documenting the history of the 625+ Los Angeles landmarks on the National Register of Historic Places. His work has been featured by the LA Times, KIIS-FM, LAist, the California Preservation Foundation, LA Conservancy and Pasadena Heritage, among others. By day, Etan works for an organization that pays royalties to songwriters and composers when their music is played. He lives in Valley Village with his wife, kid, two cats, and a 112-year-old grand piano. Visit him online at EtanDoesLA.com, and follow him everywhere .

05/25/2026

On this Memorial Day, as we remember those women and men who died in military service to the country, the latest post on The Homestead Blog looks at how what was then usually called Decoration Day was discussed and then commemorated in 1870s Los Angeles: https://homesteadmuseum.blog/2026/05/25/comrades-rest-your-march-is-done-decoration-memorial-day-in-los-angeles-1876-1880/

by Paul R. Spitzzeri Memorial Day is our nation’s preeminent means of honoring and mourning the women and men who died while serving our country in the armed forces and, as Decoration Day, wa…

05/24/2026

A new "Making a Statement" post on The Homestead Blog highlights a Temple Townsite Company financial statement, issued on 24 May 1926 for the week prior, reviewing its contents as well as looking at press coverage for the Town of Temple (renamed Temple City two years later): https://homesteadmuseum.blog/2026/05/24/making-a-statement-with-a-temple-townsite-company-statement-of-cash-received-disbursed-5-15-26-5-22-26/

by Paul R. Spitzzeri The old saw of “you can’t make money without spending money” takes on a different connotation when it comes to the proverbial “money pit.” This ca…

05/23/2026

The concluding third part of a post on The Homestead Blog poring through the pages of the Souvenir Number of the Petroleum Reporter of 21 May 1926 and oil driller William E. Youle's reminiscences of his more than sixty years in the industry looks at the tools and equipment, process, innovations and his role in California's oil history prior to 1900. We'll return soon with more from the publication: https://homesteadmuseum.blog/2026/05/23/youle-tide-too-sixty-three-years-of-life-in-the-oil-fields-by-william-e-youle-in-the-souvenir-number-of-the-petroleum-reporter-21-may-1926-part-three/

by Paul R. Spitzzeri Concluding our look at the recollections of California oil well driller William E. Youle and his more than sixty years of work in the Golden State, Pennsylvania and West Virgin…

05/23/2026

The second part of a post on The Homestead Blog further mines content in the 21 May 1926 Souvenir Number of the Petroleum Reporter and the recollections of prominent oil well driller William E. Youle regarding the general history of the industry in California and his work at Newhall (Santa Clarita), the Puente Hills and elsewhere in the 1880s and 1890s. Part three is next: https://homesteadmuseum.blog/2026/05/22/youle-tide-too-sixty-three-years-of-life-in-the-oil-fields-by-william-e-youle-in-the-souvenir-number-of-the-petroleum-reporter-21-may-1926-part-two/

by Paul R. Spitzzeri The reminiscences of oil driller William E. Youle, published in the 21 May 1926 Souvenir Number of the Petroleum Reporter, are interesting and instructive when it comes to the …

05/22/2026

The newest post on The Homestead Blog drills deep into a reminiscence by oil well driller William E. Youle in the 21 May 1926 Souvenir Number of "Petroleum Reporter," with part one including his origins in the industry in Pennsylvania, Canada and West Virginia in the 1860s and 1870s before migrating to California in 1876 and beginning his local work at Newhall (Santa Clarita). Part two is up soon: https://homesteadmuseum.blog/2026/05/21/youle-tide-too-sixty-three-years-of-life-in-the-oil-fields-by-william-e-youle-in-the-souvenir-number-of-the-petroleum-reporter-21-may-1926-part-one/

by Paul R. Spitzzeri William E. Youle was the subject of a prior post here regarding mention in the 1888 annual report of the California state mineralogist concerning the veteran oil driller’…