Thomas Henry Blythe
Thomas Henry Blythe | |
|---|---|
| Born | Thomas Henry Williams July 30, 1822 |
| Died | April 4, 1883 (aged 60) |
| Burial place | Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Colma, San Mateo County, California 37°40′48″N 122°28′01″W / 37.680°N 122.467°W |
| Monuments | City of Blythe, California |
| Nationality | American (naturalized) |
| Occupation | Capitalist |
| Known for | Obtaining primary water rights to the lower Colorado River, and using that water to develop the Palo Verde Valley in eastern Southern California, and leaving an unsettled estate worth millions of dollars that became a sensational story over 25 years with numerous competing claims filed. |
Thomas Henry Blythe (born Thomas Williams;^ 1822–1883), was a Welsh-born American businessman; he became a successful self-made capitalist and tycoon after emigrating to San Francisco in the United States. Blythe is most remembered for purchasing, developing, and subdividing the Palo Verde Valley in southern California, and obtaining primary rights to Colorado River water to irrigate the valley. The city of Blythe, California, the largest city in the Palo Verde Valley, is named for him.