SCV History – Blum Box Holds History

A wooden tool chest was recently donated to the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society, unassuming in its appearance, but full of worldly experience. Over 140 years ago, carrying stonemason tools, the box crossed the Atlantic Ocean with Acton pioneer George Blum. He worked on many Southern California buildings, including the first Los Angeles County Courthouse, a red sandstone structure that towered over the intersection of Spring and Temple Streets, and St. Anthony’s Seminary in Santa Barbara.
In 1891, Blum tired of the stonemason trade and he and his wife, Magdalena, homesteaded a parcel in Acton’s Aliso Canyon, where they planted fruit trees, set beehives and became farmers. George built several structures on the ranch, and when the LA courthouse fell in a 1933 earthquake, Blum retrieved some of his decorative stonework for garden décor.
Over the years, Blum Ranch became known for their ‘Blum Beauty’ hybrid peaches, as well as lilacs and honey. After George Blum’s death in 1932, the tools sat in the farm shed for decades until they were obtained from the estate sale and added to the Society’s collection.
The box, however, stayed on the ranch until the end of the Blum Ranch era. The ranch was to be sold in 2017 and family friend (and neighbor) Paulette Tcherkassy was given a chance to help clean out the cluttered barn. She purchased the box and a buckboard wagon.
Tcherkassy and her husband live just down the road from Blum Ranch and had befriended George Blum’s granddaughter Elizabeth Blum Billet and her husband, Ray, in 2008. The families spent time together during harvest seasons and holidays. Ray died in 2016 and Elizabeth’s health began to fail after the ranch changed hands. She passed away in 2019.
“I knew things were going to be lost. I just kept thinking, the world needs to know about you,” Paulette said, thinking of her old friends. She brought the box to Heritage Junction in August.
The tool chest is now safe and reunited with the stonemason tools George Blum brought to America in 1880. It will be part of a display at Heritage Junction in 2023.