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Guide to the Will A. Benshoff Collection
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Administrative Information
  • Biographical Note
  • Scope and Content

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: Will A. Benshoff Collection
    Origination: Benshoff, Hazel
    Extent: 6 Boxes
    Repository: Pasadena Museum of History
    Pasadena, California 91103-3594
    Language: English.

    Administrative Information

    Access

    Collection is open to the public for research. Use is restricted by rules intended to protect and preserve the materials in good condition for the future. For additional information please contact the Pasadena Museum of History.

    Publication Rights

    Use of the materials is governed by all applicable copyright law. The Pasadena Museum of History reserves the right to restrict any materials from reproduction at any time. Property rights reside with the Pasadena Museum of History. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. The Museum's physical ownership of the materials in its collection does not imply ownership of copyright. It is the user's responibility to reslove any copyright issues related to the use and distribution of reproduced materials. For permission to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Pasadena Museum of History.

    Preferred Citation

    Suggested citation of these records: [Identification of item], Will A. Benshoff Collection, Research Library and Archives, Pasadena Museum of History.

    Biographical Note

    Will Alton Benshoff (1869-1959) was a Pasadena architect. He moved to California from Ohio in 1891. Benshoff's architectural projects include the Lincoln Avenue Methodist Church (relocated to Heritage Square), the original buildings of Turner and Stevens Mortuary, Polytechnical Elementary (forerunner of Caltech), the First Methodist Episcopal Church, the Magnolia Hotel, and hundreds of Victorian-style private homes in Pasadena and neighboring cities.
    Benshoff's wife Claudine was the daughter of Frank Stevens, founder of Stevens Hardware, and sister of Arthur Bush Stevens, co-founder of Turner and Stevens Mortuary.

    Scope and Content

    The Benshoff Collection includes approximately 1,000 architectural drawings and blueprints of homes, churches, and businesses; contracts and project specifications; approximately 200 negatives and 125 photographs of architectural subjects (including some of Benshoff's projects), family, and views in and around Pasadena; papers related to the Stevens family, Stevens Hardware, and Turner and Stevens Mortuary; and personal papers.
    An oral history of Hazel Benshoff, the architect's daughter, is also available in the library.