One visitor really stood out last week among the many attendees at the 90th anniversary of the Boyce Thompson Institute: William Boyce Thompson, who came back from the dead to participate in the ceremony. He was, needless to say, hugely impressed with what the Institute had accomplished in the 84 years since last visiting the […]
Archives for November 2014
TFH Exclusive: Owners Provide Inside Tour of Rancho Joaquina
Marc and Karen Goldblatt, the current owners of Rancho Joaquina, the estate built by my great grandfather in 1924-5, recently treated thompsongenealogy.com to an exclusive insider tour of the historic home, highlighting their extensive preservation efforts. OK, it was really like they were just nice enough to show me around. Maintaining the 6,709-square-foot home, much […]
New Discovery Confirms Rancho Joaquina’s Status as Historic Treasure
Why is Rancho Joaquina, my great grandfather’s 6,709-square-foot Adobe Revival home built in 1924-5, worthy of being listed on the National Register of Historic Places? Because it was built by my great grandfather J.E. Thompson, of course. No seriously, what’s the criteria? Why was the gorgeous Phoenix home listed in 1984? An ideal source recently […]
Legendary Phoenix Funnyman Remembered for His Madcap Antics
Dr. Bill Webber remembers one particularly snowy day when his close childhood friend, the late Bill Thompson, burst into The Web’s second-story bedroom. There were a couple feet of snow on the ground. “I’m going to give it a try,” announced Thompson, who went on to become the legendary Wallace Sneed, host of The Wallace […]