The next time you are bothered by daylight savings — maybe during that short window when the sun comes up a little later, or the longer one when it doesn’t set until after nine — you can blame William Boyce Thompson. The Magnate was instrumental in the short-lived implementation of daylight savings time during WWI, […]
J.E. Thompson Tried to Hitch a Ride with Amelia Earhart
“It was a pleasure to have as our guest for a weekend Amelia Earhart,” J.E. Thompson wrote on his deathbed to his son, William Boner Thompson. “She had made her plans to fly around the world and gave us a talk about her flying experiences in the past as well as what she expected to […]
Buck Thompson Grew Mountain View into the Largest Funeral Operation in the West
This blogger recently caught up with Brewer “Buck” Thompson (born 1931), patriarch of the J.R. Thompson (1873-1927) side of the family, for a series of short interviews. In the family tradition, Buck, at 13, left for Exeter, where his father and grandfather also received their education. He later attended Stanford and spent two years in […]
Hot News Flash: Rare Picket Post Interior Photos Rediscovered
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 […]