Pisgah Home Historic District (Los Angeles, California)

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6026-6044 Echo St.
6051 A-D Hayes St.
Los Angeles, CA 90042

Pisgah Home Historic District is an 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.

Around 1900, Yoakum formed an institution that was initially known as Yoakum's Sanatorium at his house in the Highland Park section of Los Angeles. The home originally had room for only eight persons and was founded "to give free care to drunkards and outcasts who wished to reform." In March 1903, the Los Angeles Times reported that Yoakum was building a cottage to the north of his "Faith home" and had plans for a series of cottages for the use of patients at his sanatorium. In June 1903, the Times reported that proposed additions to Yoakum's sanatorium would increase the capacity from 50 to 150 patients. Some patients stayed in the main home, others stayed in the cottages, and others still stayed in tents and wagons on the property.

By 1903, Yoakum's Sanatorium had become the "Pisgah Faith Home", named after the mountain peak from which the Bible indicates that Moses first saw the promised land. Yoakum used his barn as a tabernacle for church services and also as additional living space for patients. Yoakum and the Pisgah Home movement became well-known not only in Los Angeles but nationally and internationally. The Pisgah Home was supported by voluntary offerings, and no specific charges were made for care or treatment. As Yoakum's fame spread, donations came in from all over the world to support its operations. The inmates (as they were known) were fed simple home-cooked meals, instructed on the Bible, then bathed and put to work around the home. Among the tasks given to the residents was the construction of a lavish Tudor-style mansion which became Yoakum's new home at 140 South Avenue 59, and has itself been designated a historic landmark.

As the Pisgah Home movement became successful, Yoakum built other facilities. Pisgah Ark was built in Arroyo Seco where "wayward girls" and prostitutes were sheltered and taught midwifery under the direction of Sister Nell. Pisgah Gardens was built in North Hollywood, where beds were maintained for 100 patients suffering from tuberculosis, cancer and mental disorders. Yoakum also built the Pisgah Store in Arroyo Seco where donated clothing and other goods were distributed free of charge. There was also a gospel mission in West Los Angeles.

By 1914, Pisgah Home had outgrown its facilities, and Yoakum bought a 3,300 ranch in the Santa Susana Mountains north of Simi Valley, California. Yoakum paid $50,000 for the property, and there he built Pisgah Grande, a residential and religious utopian community that has since been reclaimed by nature.

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.