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Well, the last mystery spot
turned out to be a tough one. Very few got it, but Art Browning did and he was the
first. He correctly identified this big insulated door as being part of the ice
vault in the Glick’s building at Goshen and Willis. When Glick’s built their
building they built it around this vault which I believe was part of the
original Visalia Ice Company on that site previously. Nice work on this one
Art.
Here are the clues for the next
mystery spot:
1. For many years this building was known for
providing good transportation.
2. The man whose name is connected it has the
same last name as the 28th President of the United States.
3. For many years the company also sold and
serviced Harley Davidson motorcycles.
4. This building is close to
lots of money.
Good luck!
So Dear To My Heart
Some time back, Charles Loffland
reminded me of the Disney movie “So Dear To My Heart” starring Burl Ives. The
movie is also dear to the heart of Visalia and Tulare County folks because much
of it was filmed near Porterville, Springville, California Hot Springs and
Mooney Grove Park. Quite a few Tulare County residents appeared in this movie
as extras including JoAnn Ledbetter (George) who by the way was one of the few
extras that actually got paid. Walt Disney himself stayed at the Hotel Johnson
during some of the filming. The movie was released in 1949 and it played at the
Fox Theatre in Visalia. It’s a cute movie that still can be found and enjoyed.
It’s worth seeing and who knows, you might get a glimpse of a familiar Tulare
County landmark or face.
She’s Probably the Oldest Gal in Town
Some time ago HH follower Carole
Mathewson mentioned the statue of goddess Minerva that sat on top of the dome
of the old Tulare County Courthouse here in Visalia. It stood at the top for at
least 75 years. She was put there (see yellow arrow) at the time of construction
(1876-77.) After the big 1952 Tehachapi earthquake, the courthouse was damaged
beyond repair and was razed, but Minerva was saved. She is on display at the
Tulare County Museum at Mooney Grove Park. Kinetha Cochran’s museum photograph
shows it in all its glory on display. But mystery surrounds this old carving.
Who carved her? Did a local artist do it, or was it ordered from a catalog? Why
was she picked to adorn the courthouse building? Minerva is the Greek goddess
of wisdom. Why wasn’t the Roman goddess of justice “Justitia” picked instead?
What is Minerva made of? Some say redwood, but have we verified that for sure?
We may find some of the answers to these questions some day, but in the
meantime, we can all be thankful that the 7 ½’ Minerva survived. Go by the
museum and say hi to her. She doesn’t look half bad for a 135-year old who has
been exposed to the harsh valley weather for so long. Don’t be intimidated by
her spear or shield.
Classic Visalia Flood Photo Found
Matt Weger, the son of Mike
Weger, found this classic Visalia flood photograph at a yard sale and bought it
for $2.00. Can you imagine picking up a great old photograph of Visalia for
$2.00. Great find, Matt! The view in this photo is looking north on Church
Street from Main Street and it was taken during one of the devastating floods
in 1906. None of the buildings that you see in this photo exist today. If you
didn’t know it already, Visalia has flooded on a regular basis and when it did,
man did it bring out the cameras. Thanks again, Matt, for sharing this 106-year
old beauty with us.
Roller Skating Has Deep Roots
Roller skating in Visalia has
been a popular discussion topic in HH for quite awhile , but unfortunately, I
do not have any vintage pictures to include. Does anyone have a nice old one
they are willing to share? The image displayed here is a generic one with no
local connection. A number of you have passed on stories including this one from
Rita Loffland Cooley. She describes her earliest remembrance of roller skating
in Visalia (skating that wasn’t just around the block.) She said, “In the very
early 1940s in the summer time there were portable roller skating rinks that
appeared in town and were set up in the vacant fields of the block surrounded
by Main, Willis, Acequia and West streets. My sister Janet and I were very
young and our parents would take us down there very early in the evening, and
the workers would let us skate on their portable rink with our own skates (they
didn’t have rental skates small enough for us.) By the time the young adults
appeared for their skating of the evening, we had returned home and gone to
bed. A fun memory.” Surely there must be a photograph of these portable skating
rinks. Believe it or not, skating in Visalia dates back to at least 1871. This advertisement
is from the Visalia Weekly Delta August 17, 1871. By the way, the St. Charles
building was on the southwest corner of Court and Main streets.
***Peter McDonald, Dean of
Library Services at Fresno State and Jill Moffat, Exhibit Curator at the Henry
Madden Library at Fresno State, have been doing some very creative thinking. By
collaborating they have created a valley-wide project that they call “Valley Firsts.” This project involves collecting different
historical firsts from around the southern/central San Joaquin Valley counties.
Part of their project will be a display of historical items at the Madden
Library in 2013. However, Peter has his sights on a bigger valley-wide project.
He would like to see a history roundtable made up of valley-wide history types
with website to go along with it. Collaboration efforts crossing county lines
could be made using this website. It has a lot of potential and I believe it would
be worthwhile. Let me know if you’d like to be involved.
***I was contacted recently by
an individual from an academic institution asking about historic photographs of
Latino baseball teams or players. I didn’t have any, but did have an article
from 1939 that talked about what was called the Visalia Mexican Athletic Club.
They played other teams from different cities. Anyone have any photographs of
early Latino baseball?
***Nancy Loliva wants to share
the news of the Visalia Electric model train display that is going to be
unveiled at the Visalia Transit Center. Louis Whitendale, Ron Humason and Ron
Wyatt spent many hours putting this display together. A brief unveiling
ceremony will be held on Thursday, November 15th at 10:30am at the
Transit Center at 425 E. Oak Street and light refreshments will be served. If
you like more information on this event, click here: www.historicvisalia.blogspot.com
for the press release or you can call the Transit Center at 713-4100.
***Okay, this might be the
answer we were looking for about the J. C. Penney’s overhead contraption here
in Visalia. This came from Bobbye Banks: She wrote, “I hope I can shed some light on the above
blog you posted. I worked at the Penney’s store at the NW corner of Main and
Court during the holidays and summers from 1952 or 1953 until 1955. In the
1940s there was a 2-3” tube that came down from the 2nd floor. It
stopped about 24” above each checkout table in the store. Each purchase was put
in an envelope with the invoice and the customer’s money. The clerk would then
pull the cord attached to the tube and the envelope went up the tube to the 2nd
floor where the bookkeeper had her office; the change came back down for the
employee to give to the customer. By the time I went to work at Penney’s, the
cord had been replaced with a suction system. We would remove the bottom cap
from the tube, place the invoice and money inside, replace the cap and the
contents would go ‘SCHLUUP!!!’ up to the bookkeeper.”
The Visalians know how to enjoy themselves in the
mountains. Eighteen gallons of whisky went with a camping party (male of
course) to the arctic regions of Kern river a few weeks back. The return
journey was made last week, but minus their friend Alco Hol. Visalia Daily Times, August 6, 1892
