Historical Marker · No. 874
Workman Home and Family Cemetery
City of Industry, Los Angeles County · California
Erected by State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the City of Industry, 1976
The bank of Temple and Workman took a run in 1875, borrowed from Lucky Baldwin to reopen with the ranch as collateral, and closed for good on January 13, 1876. Baldwin let three years of interest accumulate before foreclosing, which put the outcome beyond reach. On May 17, 1876 a court receiver came out to the house, Baldwin's own man, and Workman took his own life that evening. He is buried in the family cemetery a few hundred yards east.
What the plaque says
Home of pioneer William Workman. Workman and co-owner John Rowland developed the 48,790-acre La Puente Rancho. Workman and co-leader Rowland organized the first wagon train of permanent eastern settlers which arrived in Southern California on November 5, 1841. Workman first began this home in 1842, then remodeled it in 1872 to resemble an English Manor House. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 874 Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the City of Industry, November 5, 1976.
Where it stands
34.02000, -117.96475 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- Mission San Gabriel Arcangel — 9.7 miThe fourth Alta California mission, built on Tongva land with Tongva labor, rebuilt after arson and now telling that story straight.
- Colorado Street Bridge — 14 miBeaux-Arts concrete arches curving 150 feet above the Arroyo Seco, opened in 1913 and later a link in Route 66.