Thomas House ~ Escondido, California
Posted by: 
brwhiz
N 33° 07.141 W 117° 04.644
11S E 492779 N 3664484
The Thomas House, also known as the Turrentine House, was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 30, 1992.
Waymark Code: WMAJ79
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 01/20/2011
Views: 4
In March of 1886 the Escondido Company sold their interest in the land on which the town of Escondido had started to form. The land was purchased by the Escondido Land & Town Company, comprised of thirteen investors. Five of those investors were the Thomas Brothers from Kansas, and George V. Thomas was one of the five. He therefore commenced to build the house that now stands at the intersection of Fifth and Kalmia, completing it sometime in 1886.
The origin of the alternate name is somewhat shrouded in mystery. There are two well-known Turrentines in Escondido history. The first, John Neal Turrentine, was pastor of the First United Methodist Church from 1887 to 1888. He evidently turned to law and politics because the only other mention of him is a reference to a Judge J. N. Turrentine who gave the speech of the day on September 9, 1905 upon the occasion of the burning of the bonds for the irrigation district. That occasion is still celebrated each September 9th as Grape Day, held in Grape Day Park.
The second, more recent and well-known Turrentine is Gil Turrentine, a relative of J. N. and recent chief of the volunteer fire department, who passed away in August 2010 at the age of 74.
The Escondido Main Library, located on Kalmia Street about 2 1/2 blocks north of the Thomas/Turrentine house, has a meeting room named the Turrentine Room, indicating that the name is fairly prominent in the history of Escondido.