Pisgah Home Historic District facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Pisgah Home Historic District
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Pisgah Home, 2008
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 Location in Los Angeles
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| Location | 6026-6044 Echo St. & 6051 A-D Hayes St., Highland Park, Los Angeles, California |
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| Built | 1895 |
| Architectural style | Mission/Spanish Revival, Bungalow/Craftsman |
| NRHP reference No. | 07001304 |
| Added to NRHP | December 19, 2007 |
Pisgah Home Historic District is a historic district in the Highland Park section of Los Angeles, California. It was the site of the Pisgah Home movement begun by faith healer and social reformer, Finis E. Yoakum, in the early 1900s. The site is closely aligned with the founding of the modern Pentecostal church. It has been a mission used for religious and charitable purposes for more than 100 years. The area today is operated as the Christ Faith Mission/Old Pisgah Home.
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Finis E. Yoakum
Finis Yoakum (1851-1920), the founder of the Pisgah Home movement, began his career as a medical doctor specializing in mental and neurological disorders and serving as the chair of mental disease on the faculty of Gross Medical College in Denver, Colorado. In July 1894, Yoakum was badly injured when he was struck by a buggy. He moved to Los Angeles in 1895, hoping the mild climate would assist in his recuperation. After attending a Christian Alliance prayer meeting in 1895, Yoakum recovered and considered his healing to be a miracle. He later wrote that he received visions telling him to create a mission for the needy.
Gold mining
Though he began his mission around 1900, he continued to have other business interests as well. One of those interests was gold mining. In 1897, the Los Angeles Times published an article on Yoakum's claim that he had discovered a new method of "X-Ray Prospecting" for gold. Yoakum reported that he had laid a bit of gold-bearing quartz on the x-ray plate while taking an x-ray of a patient with a tumor. The x-ray showed the location of the gold deposits in the quartz, and Yoakum proposed using x-rays in mine tunnels to "ascertain decisively if gold is present, and if so, exactly where it lies and in what quantities." Following this report, Yoakum became active in gold and copper mining. In 1902, he ran a newspaper advertisement (pictured at left) offering stock at 25 cents a share in his new mining company. Yoakum later claimed that it was while traveling in Mexico, the location of his mining interests, that he spoke for the first time in tongues. He reported: "I was in the heart of Mexico in a church, speaking through an interpreter to the Mexicans and Indians, when suddenly a distinct rush of some might wind came upon me, and when I opened my mouth it was not English, but a beautiful smooth Castilian language, and for 20 or 30 minutes I held that large audience."
Later uses of the property
Fifteen days before his death in August 1920, Yoakum executed deeds to his two sons of all his real property and also executed a will leaving his estate in trust for the Pisgah Home movement. The Pisgah Home movement sued Yoakum's two sons claiming that the real property had been conveyed to the sons to be held in trust for the movement. The lawsuit was ultimately settled with the properties being divided between the family and the movement. The original Pisgah Home in Highland Park continued to be operated as a mission. In 1936, the home was taken over by Arglee F. Green, known as Mother Green, of Christ Faith Mission; Mother Green used it as a shelter for homeless women and children. From 1950-1993, Pisgah Home was operated by the Rev. Harold James Smith; Smith published the "Herald of Hope" newspaper (with a reported circulation of 60,000) from the Pisgah Home and his "Prayer Tower" radio broadcasts also emanated from the Pisgah Home property. Since 1993, the property, known as Christ Faith Mission/Old Pisgah Home, has been directed by Richard A. Kim as its Administrator and Chief Executive Officer.
Historic designation
In 1994, the City of Los Angeles adopted a historic preservation overlay zone around Pisgah Home. In 2000, the Pisgah Home received a preservation grant from the Getty Trust, and in December 2007, the Pisgah Home Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Images for kids
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Finis Yoakum posing in wheelchair with former invalid following healing, Nov. 1911
