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Thanks for visiting Historic Happenings! If you are not on the email list, and would like to be notified via email when a new posting of this newsletter is made, please email Terry Ommen at histerry@comcast.net. I will add you to the list. I will never share your email address with anyone without your permission.
Congratulations to
Virginia Strawser who was the first to correctly identify last month's mystery
spot. It was of course the motel at the corner of Johnson and Main streets—a
motel that has been there for many years. It is has had several names over the
years and is now America's Best Value Inn.
If you're ready for
the next mystery spot, here are the clues:
1) It is an
overcrossing of Mill Creek. (Hint: Mill Creek as you know goes under Main
Street in several spots in downtown Visalia, but this crossing has the creek
exposed on either side of it.
2) This overcrossing
was constructed by Thompson Brothers, Central Contractors, Fresno Cal and has
that marking on it.
3) It is near a park.
4) It is surrounded by
oak trees.
Where is it? Good
luck.
Mt. Whitney Power Company—At Its Home On Court
Bruce Geiger found
this nice old photograph showing a view looking north on Court Street from
about Acequia. Taken in about 1910, it shows Mt. Whitney Power Company when it
leased office space in the S. C. Brown building on the east side of Court. In
1912 Mt. Whitney Power built a new building on W. Main Street (where Quality
Jewelers is now.) In this photograph you can see adjacent to the Brown to the
left, the Harrell Building. And and to the left of that on the same side of the
street, but across Main is the Palace Hotel. Notice the evidence of transition
from horse and buggy to automobile. Nice find, Bruce!
Visalia Public School & Teachers for 1939
Sandy Newman found an
interesting piece of history lately and wanted to share it. It is an original
1939-1940 Public School Directory for Tulare County which includes Visalia.
Visalia schools are listed by name as well as teachers, and it even gives their
home addresses. There are some other tidbits of local school information
included as well. Only 3 of the 7 school listed in this booklet are still with
us today. They others are gone. Do you recognize the names of any of the
teachers or administrators mentioned here? Thanks, Sandy for sharing.
Edison Pole Yard
Marian Shippey Cote
found this very interesting aerial photo in her family possessions of the
Southern California Edison Company "pole yard." It was located on Ben
Maddox at Goshen Ave. After Edison vacated this site, the land sat vacant for a
number of years and is now occupied at least in part by Sonic, the fast food
drive-in. By the way, Mt. Whitney Power Co. was bought by Southern California
Edison many years ago. Marian tells us that her father worked at this pole yard
as a "mapper." It doesn’t look like Goshen Ave went through when this
picture was taken. Thanks, Marian, for sharing.
Tipton Lindsey School Grounds Become City Library
Contrary to what the
public believes, the Tipton Lindsey School
Knudsen Creamery Had A Big Presence
The Knudsen Creamery
Co. located on Goshen Avenue near Leslie had its open house in 1927 with Tom
Knudsen, president of the company present. In this 1932 photograph, employees
of the company posed in front of the plant.
***Hugh Baca is
looking for a photograph of his dad's grandfather, a man named Harold Santos
Baca. Harold lived most of his life in the Porterville area. If anyone can help
with a photograph, I know Hugh would be appreciative
***Peter Cowper
mentioned that when he was a youngster he would go into Cross Horlock Hardware
store and recalled that when he walked on the wood floor, it would
"give" under his weight, and the glassware and general merchandise in
the display cases would rattle. It's an interesting observation and I remember
the same thing. Those hardwood floors would tend to creak and loosen up and
there would be a little shaking and rattling going on with the display cases
nearby. Are there any of those floors around anymore in Visalia.
***Speaking of the
Hyde Ranch, Charlene Langdon Cates passed along that her grandparents Ernest
and Alta Langdon lived on the Hyde ranch for over 50 years, and she and her
parents lived there also for a few years. Her folks, as you may recall, owned
the Langdon Electric Motor & Pump Co. at 410 E. Main , then moved to 910 E.
Acequia.
***I thought we had
the sugar beet factory location mystery solved. Information came that it looked
like it had been at Tulare and Bridge streets, but 94-year old Betty Treaster,
who lived just south of Visalia, remembers seeing the abandoned buildings at
the K Road/Santa Fe location. She recalls the abandoned buildings being
referred to as the "old sugar beet plant" by old timers.
***For those who would
like to read about Anna May Bell, a bright young Visalia girl in our history,
be sure to pick up a copy of the April 2015 Lifestyle
Magazine and go to page 12. Or you can go online and read it at http://issuu.com/lifestylemagazine/docs/lifestyle_april15_web
Facing national prohibition, the local newspaper asked: Announcement is made that 60,000 tons of ice
have been placed in cold storage for next July. What good will ice be in the
month of July when all the cocktails and high-ball making places have gone out
of business?" Visalia
Morning Delta, May 13, 1919