For years, I’ve been wondering where they might have gone. You know, the pictures that I covertly took of the interiors of Picket Post, William Boyce Thompson’s Castle on the Rocks, when it was opened to visitors for a heartbeat in 2011. Curators of course that no pictures be taken of the interiors, but I […]
BT Arboretum History Re-Writes J.E. Thompson, Jr.’s Legacy as Director
The Board of Directors of the Boyce Thompson Arboretum called a special meeting after long-time director Franklin Crider died on August 24, 1953. Shortly after, Joe E. Thompson, Jr., nephew of the Arboretum’s founder, William Boyce Thompson, telephoned acting director Bernard “Bill” Benson from Boston to say he wanted to attend the meeting. Thompson told […]
Magma Mine, Following in Thompson Tradition, Built Homes for Miners in Superior
The mining business was so good for the Thompson Family’s Magma Mining Company in the early 1920s that there weren’t enough homes to go around in Superior, Arizona. So, the company took matters into its own hands. “Due to the increased size of our operations and the construction of the smelter, it has been necessary […]
Ginormous Morenci Mine Absorbed Important Family History Markers
Freeport McMoRan’s 80-square mile Morenci mine, the largest copper mine in North America, has laid waste to two important family historical markets: the Shannon Mine in Metcalf that made William Boyce Thompson a millionaire and the family home where Julius Kruttschnitt entertained family guests after the birth of his first daughter, Meanie. The recent discovery, […]
Memories of Mount Isa: Candace Remembers Her Trip to Casa Grande
Several years ago, Dr. Candace Kruttschnitt traveled to Mount Isa to visit Casa Grande, the architecturally significant house built by her grandfather, Julius Kruttschnitt, Jr., general manager of the Mount Isa Mine. A grand house designed by the prominent Brisbane firm of Donoghue, Cusick, and Edwards reflected the influence of Kruschnitt’s time spent in Arizona and Mexico. […]
A Test of the Power of Masonry
By J.R. Boyce, P.G.M., of Montana, Formerly of Columbia, Missouri. Writing in the Statesmen (Columbia, Mo.) I read tonight in the October number of the Voice, from the pen of that “old man eloquent,” Cornelius Moore, an article headed “Masonic Reminiscences.” I, too, have Reminiscences of the past in Masonry; and although I cannot so […]
Greer Historian Preserved Relic from J.E. Thompson Lodge
This blogger battled high altitude, dry air, and a near-empty library to make an important discovery in Greer, Arizona (elevation 8,356 feet). A local historian, Wink Crigler, not only preserved one of the two guest cabins at great grandfather J.E. Thompson’s lodge but possessed the only known photograph of the main lodge, built in about […]
The Unexciting Truth About William Boyce Thompson’s Picket Post Mansion
After his stroke, a personal assistant rolled an invalid William Boyce Thompson in a bathtub on wheels to the window so that he could watch the sunrise over Apache Leap from his beloved Picket Post mansion. The heartwarming story is one of several compelling urban legends told to visitors of the Magnate’s Castle on the […]