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Free tours of the homes are offered Friday-Sunday at 12, 1, 2, and 3 p.m., except for the 4th weekend of every month. The only way to visit the houses is on a tour. Tours for groups of 10 or more in English, select foreign languages, and American Sign Language are available by appointment.

 

We are located at : 15415 Don Julian Rd, City of Industry, CA 91745

For more information, call (626) 968-8492, or send us an info@homesteadmuseum.org.

Watch our introductory video. It will give you a better sense of who we are and what we do!

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The history of the site begins with William and Nicolasa Workman, who emigrated to the area from Taos, New Mexico, in 1841, while this land was still part of Mexico. The Workmans quickly established themselves as cattle ranchers, but after a series of floods and droughts, the family began growing wheat and grapes for wine production. They built a modest adobe house, which they remodeled twice. Its current appearance reflects the most dramatic changes that were completed by 1870. Unfortunately, a family owned bank led to the loss of most of the family's wealth and land by the turn of the century. 

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Following the discovery of oil on land owned in the Montebello hills, the Workmans' grandson, Walter P. Temple, and his wife, Laura, purchased a portion of the Homestead in 1917. Adjacent to the Workman House, the family built an exquisite Spanish Colonial Revival mansion which came to be known as La Casa Nueva (The New House). During the 1920s, Temple was involved in numerous business endeavors ranging from oil drilling to real estate development. In 1923 he founded the Town of Temple, known today as Temple City. Sadly, like the Workmans, the Temples lost their wealth through failed oil and real estate investments, and lost the Homestead to foreclosure in 1932. The property was used as a boys' military school and a convalescent hospital before the City of Industry purchased the property in the 1960s and '70s. Following several years of restoration, the museum opened in May 1981.

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Aside from touring the houses, visitors can take self-guided tours of El Campo Santo, the family's private cemetery founded in the 1850s. The Walter P. Temple Memorial Mausoleum, completed circa 1921, contains many Workman and Temple family members along with Pío Pico, the last governor of Mexican California and a friend of the Workman & Temple family. 

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