Morton House
August, 2006
Morton House around the time of the First World War.
> click to enlarge
Writing on the back of the photo: “This must have been taken during first world war 1917-1918. Grandpa and grandma Morton at right on front porch of their home in Homestead.”
Henry Morton (b. 1857) was a carpenter. In December 1905, he and his wife Rebecca (b. 1858) moved from San Francisco to Homestead Valley with their two sons and three daughters. The woman and man on the far left could be their daughter Grace and her husband Benjamin W. Woolescroft, a brakeman on the railroad. The Morton home is on Lillian Lane. The day could be the fourth of July. The camera direction is southeast. It is late afternoon. The white building in the upper left is probably the Santos farm house between Homestead Blvd. and LaVerne.
The trees are on Reed Creek. In 1905, Henry had built a smaller house for his family across the creek at 222 Evergreen. His great-great-grandson, also a carpenter, lives there today. In 1912, Henry built the house in the photo. Descendants lived there until 1996.
Henry Morton also subdivided a nearby block of land between Evergreen and LaVerne. The Morton Tract consisted of 8 lots and Willow street. The name of the street was later changed to Richardson, then to Heckman and is now Linden Lane.
If you have comments or questions about this article or other topics
pertaining to the history of Homestead Valley,
please feel free to e-mail Chuck Oldenburg.