Historic Happenings

2012-02-01T19:27:00.000-08:00

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Thanks for visiting Historic Happenings! If you are not on the email list yet, 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 not share your email address with anyone without your permission.

Congratulations go out to Erin Hayden who was the first to get the fire escape correctly identified as the latest Mystery Spot. The fire escape is in the alley between Midtown Sports and Links. Nice work, Erin.

Are you ready for the next one? Here are your clues:
1) This building was built in 1921 at a cost of $75,000.
2) It has an occupancy limit of 220.
3) It was built by R. C. Palmer and D. A. Schlemmer
4) Thirty tons of steel and 5 cars of cement were used in reinforcing the building.

Where is this building? Good luck.

Mt. Whitney Power Co. Photographs Online

As you may know, the Mt. Whitney Power Co. was incorporated in 1899 and really electrified much of Tulare County. The company office was located in a couple of locations in Visalia, and in 1912 it was on Main Street where they built the building that now houses Quality Jewelers (213 W Main Street.) This power and electric company built dams, created flumes, and generated precious power which modernized Tulare County. Later the company became Southern California Edison. Recently, Bill Tweed, a well-known writer and naturalist, shared this amazing on-line, historical collection of Mt. Whitney Power & Electric Company photographs. They are housed at the Huntington Library, but you can look at them on-line at http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/search/collection/p16003coll2/searchterm/Mount%20Whitney%20Power%20and%20Electric%20(MWP&E)/field/physia/mode/exact/conn/and/order/call/page/1 . Thanks Bill for sharing your discovery.

Tie Rods and Wall Washers
I know the title of this story sounds like a heavy metal band, but it is not. For many years I have been interested in old buildings. I guess it’s the history they represent but the architectural features are also of interest to me. One feature I have been particularly interested in is a small almost trivial aspect of these buildings. It is the metal plates/caps found generally toward the top of brick buildings. Many old brick buildings have them and if you look inside the building you can sometimes see the metal rods that run through the building and attach to these plates or caps. The rods and caps are building supports and their purpose is to keep the building from “bowing in or out.” Basically, these rods and caps help keep the building “plumb.” I have talked with many people about these over the years trying to find out what they are called but up t this point, no one has been able to tell me. Recently, I communicated with Philip Vallejo, an architectural historian with the state of California and he suggested they could be called “tie rods and wall washers.” I now have a name for these features and I thank Philip for that. The photos that you see are all “wall washers” that can be found in some of Visalia’s old brick buildings. Let me know if you can find any more. In places outside of Visalia, I have seen more decorative ones in the shape of stars, etc.

Malick Motors Remembered

Kim Gunter reminded me recently of the old Malick Motors building at 510 E. Acequia. It has an interesting front as you can see and the brick building(s) run all the way to Main Street. According to my information, the building is currently vacant and went up for sale in 2009. According to the owners, the building dates back to at least 1914. They also claim that Bill Malick opened there in 1954. It looks like there was E. Main Street frontage too at one time, and maybe there were two buildings joined to make one. Notice in the second photo there appears to be 2 different brick colors and styles. Kim also pointed out that she occasionally sees Malick Motors license plate frames on cars. Now that you mention it, I think I have too.

1873 Assessor’s Book – A Treasure Trove

Dustin Smith, a Visalia history buff and HH follower, shared an old Tulare County ledger book with me that he has had for a number of years. It is huge and very heavy and dates back to 1873-74. It came out of the Tulare Co. Assessor’s office. It is filled with interesting information about real estate and personal property dating back over 135 years. It reads like a Who’s Who of early Tulare County. Dustin has offered to do lookups for anyone interested in research material. It is organized alphabetically by name. Here is a sample entry showing what information can be found. Let me know if you have a request. Thanks, Dustin, for your willingness to help.

G & I—An Old Visalia Market

I have been in touch with Duane and Doug Copley, former Visalians, about the old G & I market in Visalia. It was named for the Goldstein and Iseman families. The Iseman family had been in the grocery business since about 1896 in Visalia and for many decades G & I was a household name. Copley’s bakery also had an outlet in the market. The Copley’s and Iseman’s were good friends and Duane recalls a road trip that John and Emma Copley and Jack and Lois Iseman took “together to study supermarkets.” Bob Iseman, the son of Jack and Lois, added that his parents and the Iseman’s actually attended a grocer’s convention in Florida together. Shortly after their return to Visalia, the new G & I Food Center was built on the southeast corner of Main and Willis. The market opened for business on Monday, August 22, 1950, and the following month Jack Iseman penned a grateful letter to the community which appeared in the Visalia Times Delta. The Food Center building still stands. It has been remodeled and now houses several businesses and offices. Thanks, Duane, Doug and Bob for sharing.

Miles Shuper—A Well-known Journalist
As many of you know, Miles Shuper reported on Visalia and Tulare County news for a long time. He actually began his career as a journalist in 1967 working for the Visalia Times Delta. Later he reported for the Valley Voice and is well-known for his regular column called “Miles Around.” I first got to know him when he was a police reporter for the Delta in the early 1970s. Miles has left the newspaper business and the area and is now living on his family property near historic Knight’s Ferry in Stanislaus County. Recently I paid him a visit at his family homestead. He gave me a nice tour of the area and we had an enjoyable day. This story is not really Visalia history, but Miles Shuper is part of Visalia history and I thought I’d give you an update on a man whose byline will forever be referred to by future Visalia and Tulare County historians. Note the street sign in this photograph, and yes, I’m sure you agree that it is nice to know Miles is still “around.”

Cattle Country Means Rodeo
Visalia and the surrounding area has been rodeo country for many years. It comes with being cattle country. As an example, the Visalia Delta newspaper reported in August 1859, “This is the season for the stock raisers to collect their cattle and separate them for the purpose of branding and marking young stock. Every few days, there is a rodeo somewhere on the plains for that purpose.” Even though these early rodeos involved hard work, without a doubt they offered the cowboys a chance to show off their skills and have some fun. Their rodeos took place in makeshift corrals on the open range, much different from the rodeo grounds of today.

Visalia’s first rodeo as an entertainment event was held in 1927 on land that is now Recreation Park. Oscar Warren originated and dominated the one-day event and it proved to be so popular that almost yearly, rodeos followed. In 1932, a group called the Visalia Rodeo Association was formed and in the same year they purchased the McSwain property south of Tulare Ave and west of Court Street. This land became the second rodeo grounds. For some unknown reason, in 1940, the property was sold and the rodeo moved back to Recreation Park. But the war years caused interruptions to his annual event and general interest declined. In 1947 a group of individuals interested in revitalized the Visalia rodeo began looking at 40 acres of city-owned land on the east side of the airport as a possible new site. The location offered plenty of arena space, ample room for spectators and their vehicles and enough room for livestock pens. The Visalia City Council supported the plan and Visalia had still another rodeo location.

A good friend, Guy Shelly, recently shared a rodeo ticket he had saved from the 1942 Visalia rodeo. I doubt that many of these have survived over the years. Thanks, Guy, for saving this one, and for reminding us of our rodeo tradition.

***Thanks to all of you who identified the vacant Copeland Sports building on Mooney Blvd. as the site of the old Purity Store.

***Thanks also to all of you who helped determine the approximate date of the Visalia brochure in the last HH. Consensus seems to be that it was published about 1968, give or take.

***Just as a point of information, the alley behind Links/Midtown Sports was known as Shinbone Alley in at least the 1890s. (Apparently, it was named that because of a butcher shop located right off of the alleyway.)

***Doug Rains mentioned the Standard Oil fire at Santa Fe and Houston. He was wondering when it occurred. It actually started on Wednesday morning December 1, 1971. It was a big one, but fortunately there were no deaths or injuries, but lots of property damage, though.

An Injured Chambermaid Goes After a Menial. Mrs. Carrie Cummings, chambermaid at the Visalia House, last night horsewhipped a dining-room waiter named Frank Morrey. Mrs. Cummings’ husband was sent to the State prison some time since for attempting to murder John Mangan of Lemoore. Morrey lately induced Mrs. Cummings to secure a divorce from her husband, promising to marry her. Yesterday he refused to comply with the contract, hence the horsewhipping. San Francisco Call, June 4, 1893

2012-01-03T19:46:00.000-08:00

Nice work Karen!. You were the first to get the Mystery Spot. Karen Kirkpatrick correctly identified the old Tulare County jail as the mystery spot. Many got it right, but Karen was the first.

The next one I know will be more difficult so let’s get with it. I’m going to put you to the test. Where is this? Here are your clues:

1) This image shows emergency stairs that were used to escape from a building in case of fire.

2) This spot is sandwiched between clothing and sports.

3) The other side of this building doesn’t look anything like this side.

4) The roadway that passes under this spot had “shinbone” as part of the roadway’s nickname.

Good luck.

More Visalia Post Office History

Sharon Doughty found another photo of her grandfather, Edmund Kevol Downing, I believe in his official letter carrier uniform. He worked for the Visalia post office from about 1908 to 1940. In 1906, he married Effie Scott. Edmund died on February 21, 1941 at age 57 at his home at 411 So. Watson Street. Thanks Sharon.

Selling Visalia Through Brochure

Dana Lubich and his mom Tricia were looking through personal effects recently and came upon this brochure of Visalia probably from the 1970s. Great read here. No date on it, but it is early. Any guess as to the year it was published?

Old Main Street Photo Surfaces

While looking through an old photo album that belonged to her late husband Bill, Laura Heberling found this picture, probably taken by Bill through the front windshield of his car in about 1938. Notice the classy street lights, signal light, the two street/sidewalk clocks, the Fox and a number of other familiar businesses. Notice also the decorative pattern on the building on the far right—the pattern is still there—it’s the Starbuck building. This was taken looking west on Main from near Court. By the way, thanks to my daughter Lyndsay for fixing this photo which had a number of major cracks. And thanks to you Laura for the nice old picture.

Famous Auto Comes to Town

Dana Lubich, who supplied this winning photograph for the Visalia Community Bank calendar for the 2012 contest has done some more detective work on this amazing old picture. Dana found out that this fancy car is a custom body (similar to a Cord) on a 1936 Buick Roadmaster Chassis. This car visited Visalia on December 9, 1946 as part of the United Airlines inaugural flight ceremony at the Visalia airport. The famous car had been in the 1937 Cary Grant movie “Topper.” The fancy trailer in this photo held a generator for a sound system. By the way, Dana’s grandfather, Robert Morris, can be seen on the left. Good investigative work, Dana.

Do You Remember Standard Brands?

Recently Sandy Newman was talking to me about the old Standard Brands Paint Co. that was in the large block building on Mooney Blvd. just south of Beech. I believe it is being refurbished now, but thought I’d share this almost 40-year old photo. Bring back memories? Anybody remembered when Standard Brands closed?

***Gary Holder alerted me to the passing of Jack Feher on December 2, 2011, at the age of 97. Jack was the owner of the auto wrecking and salvage business on East Main Street where Carroll’s Tire shop is today. He had been in Visalia since 1936. Jack and his wife Dorothy had been married for 75 years.

***Maxine Schur is asking for any information on her grandfather Max Wolff. According to Maxine, Max had a dry goods store in the early 1900s, but he was also a “song and dance” man and performed as part of Dale & Doyle. Any information would be appreciated. Sounds like a good story here!

***Sue Gunderman has a question. When she read that the old Copeland Sports building just north of Jack-In-the-Box on Mooney Blvd at Tulare, is going to be a new grocery store, she thought she remembered the site in the 1960s as also being a grocery store. Anybody recall?

***Lindsey Van Deventer needs some help in resolving a family question. She attended Divisadero Middle School in the mid 1990s and her aunt attended Divisadero in the mid 1950s. During Lindsey’s time there, she remembers the school “mascot” was the “Trojans” but her aunt believes it was something different in the 1950s. Can anyone help with this mystery?

***The x-ray machine mentioned by Chriss Courtney Laursen has created quite a lot of memories. Apparently, the x-ray machine was at Cassidy’s Shoe store and Shirley Bridges, Barbara Hinds Joseph, Lynn Brumit, Sheila Caskey Holder, Sally Gerrard Boyne, Frank Pineda, Jan Moffett, Lowell Brown and Eleanor Bergthold all remembered the novelty apparatus at the store. Many people had slipped their feet into the machine to see the amazing view. Some said they thought the x-ray machine dated back to before 1950.

***Mike Hayes has been studying the Tartarville housing situation at what was then the Visalia Junior College. He and his family lived there and found that this form of much needed veteran’s housing was set up in a number of places throughout the United States. He believes that all of it was designed as “temporary” housing.

Patrons who wish to pay their subscription to The Delta in firewood, will please bring it along, before the rain sets in. Visalia Delta, October 15, 1863

2011-12-01T19:43:00.000-08:00

Boy, did I hear from a number of you complaining that the mystery spots have been too easy. Ok, I will try to “toughen” them up a bit. Anyway, many of you correctly identified the last MS as the L. J. Williams Theater on Main St. on the Redwood campus. Peter Cowper was Johnny-on-the-spot and was the first to get it right. Peter is a consistently observant HH follower. Good work, Peter!

Now for the new, hopefully tougher, mystery spot. Here are the clues:

1) This building was completed in 1918

2) The architect was Ernest Kump Sr.

3) At one time, Art occupied this building.

4) It is a happy place, but it wasn’t always.

Good luck.

Interior Picture of a Visalia Post Office

Recently, Sharon Doughty came upon a treasure trove of family photos. One of the photographs in the group shows Visalia postal workers posing inside the Visalia Post Office. Her grandfather, Edmund Kevol Downing is shown here 4^th from the right, and the photograph is marked “about 1910.” In 1910 the post office was located at 110 W. Main Street and in 1914 it moved to the Merryman Building at 121 W. Main. Very few interior photos of our early post offices exist, so this is a great find. There is some interesting signage in the photo and the postmaster’s office is on the right. Thanks for sharing this one with us, Sharon.

Buggy Step Plaque Mounted

The final act in the restoration of the last known buggy step in Visalia is complete. A commemorative plaque with artwork by Dana Lubich was mounted on the buggy step by Rick Seals of Seals/Biehle Construction on November 4, 2011. This project which included restoring the damaged step and the purchase of the plaque was funded by a number of generous people. Thanks to all of you who played a part. Stop by and see the step with plaque on NW 1^st just west of Court. This is a great remnant of horse and buggy days.

Visalia Junior College

These two photographs show Visalia Junior College (now COS) shortly after it was built in 1940. The pictures were provided by Jenny Ernest. Prior to the current Mooney Blvd. site, the Visalia Junior College was on the high school campus (now Redwood High). It was there in 1926 that the Junior College began in Visalia. Thanks, Jenny, for sharing.

Jane Nash & Bill Nash—Visalia Historians

As 2011 comes to a close and we reflect back on the lives of two important people who loved Visalia and Visalia history. Jane Higgins Nash passed away on September 30^th , about two months after her husband of 60 plus years. Both Bill and Jane knew Visalia history and the people that made it happen. When I had a history question, I always got a “2-fer” when I called Jane. Bill would almost always offer his recollections. Both Jane and Bill will be missed!

Demolition Photograph Surfaces

In 1876-1877, the Tulare County Court-house was built in Visalia in Court-house Square (the block bounded by Oak, Court, Center and Church streets.) The beautiful building was the centerpiece of civic activity in Visalia for many years. In 1952, the major Tehachapi earthquake damaged the old structure making it uninhabitable. It had to be demolished. This rare photograph, shared by Tim Fosberg, shows some of the demolition of the building. The photo is marked November 11, 1952. Notice the fancy ornamentation on the old structure. It was a shame we had to lose it. Thanks, Tim for sharing a great photo.

Visalia Centennial – 1874-1974

Jon Greeson visited his grandmother recently and she shared with him some local treasurers she had kept over the years. One of them was an unopened bottle of Zinfandel wine from the California Growers Winery in Cutler. It was made for the 1874-1974 Visalia Centennial celebration. At the March 2, 1974 grand ball, Les Brown and his orchestra performed and he signed the wine label. By the way, Visalia has had several centennial celebrations. In this case, 1874 was recognized as the second incorporation of the city. Was 1974 a good year for wine? We’ll never know because Jon has no plans to open the bottle.

The Chinese Experience in Visalia

We know Chinese people have been living in Visalia for over 150 years. During that time they prospered and struggled and at one time Visalia had a thriving Chinatown. On Monday December 12^th from 7-8:30pm there will be a historical program called “The Chinese Experience in Visalia” at the 210 Café sponsored by the popular hangout and the Visalia Times Delta. It is part of a series of programs called 210 Connect and is designed to engage the community and create a community dialog. You will be hearing and reading more about it in the Visalia Times Delta as the date gets closer. Plan to attend as topics will include Chinese merchants, Exclusionary acts, interesting characters and the opium dens/tunnels of old Chinatown. What a great time to share your Chinatown stories.

***One of the benefits of having so many HH followers is that errors can be found more easily. One of the HH eagle-eyes is Art Browning who found that in a past issue of HH, I incorrectly identified KTKC on an aerial photograph. The station was actually on Woodland Ave outside of the view of this picture. Thanks Art and if my memory serves me correctly Peter Cowper mentioned that error to me as well.

***I am still waiting to hear about a plan for the “Free Library” granite block that recently was found. I still like the idea of using it as part of a bench on the library grounds or on Main Street near where the old Carnegie Library stood. It would be a shame to not use it in some interesting and creative way.

***Chriss Courtney Laursen remembers the Buster Brown Shoe Store on Main Street just east of the Fox Theatre on the north side of the street. She remembers that the shop, located there in the 1950s or 1960s, had an x-ray machine that showed how well the shoes fit your foot. Anyone else remember the x-ray machine?

***Tom Rey remembers the famous Estrada’s Restaurant. His Aunt Dorothy went to school with the Estrada girls and later married James A. Flower, M. D. of Detroit. Tom said, “Aunt Dorothy would stop for tamales every time she visited and between visits she would have them shipped…back to Detroit.” Tom also ate at Estrada’s and said he never had a bad meal there.

***I write a regular monthly column in the Valley Voice called “Voices From Four Creeks Country.” The latest column highlights Lee Atwell, a Visalia man who went on to perform on New York’s Broadway and became a recognizable stage actor in the early 1900s. See his interesting story at

http://www.valleyvoicenewspaper.com/fourcreeks/2011/fourcreeks120111_1229.htm

…The dogs about this town are rapidly becoming an unbearable nuisance. The yelping, howling, and snarling, from dark till daylight, are more suggestive of Pandemonium than of the quiet which ought to prevail in a country town during the dark hours. Let it be stopped. We hear loud threats of indiscriminate application of strychnine, but we hope they will not be carried out, at least without due warning, as what few good animals there are, would be apt to get it as worthless cure. Dogs worth keeping are worth keeping at home o’nights. Visalia Delta, October 23, 1862.

2011-11-01T19:50:00.000-07:00

Well, congratulations go out to George Pilling who was the first to identify the location of the mystery spot marker. The marker with the metal base is located on the northwest corner of Giddings and Main streets, on the property of the old Dudley Mansion. The plaque identifies and commemorates the top bidders at the 1998, 1988, and 2000 Visalia Christmas Tree auction (YMCA). The pedestaled marker is in the flower bed near the intersection and can be seen in this picture on the far right.

Now for the new mystery spot. Here are the clues:

1) This building had a new beginning in the 1972.

2) Architect Ernest Kump designed the original building that was built in 1932.

3) Early-on the building was connected to Visalia education.

4) The building serves as a major gathering place for people today.

Good luck.

The Palace Hotel Building Becomes the First

Well, it finally happened. The old Palace Hotel building was the first to receive a historic plaque in Visalia’s newly created Historic Recognition Program. The unveiling was witnessed by perhaps a hundred people or so. The big event took place on October 13, 2011 at 10:00am. The bronze marker was mounted on the west exterior wall (Court Street side) of the building located at the northeast corner of Court and Main streets. This plaquing program was kicked off thanks to William Martin, the building owner, the Kaweah Kollectors, who funded the first and will be funding about a dozen plaques more, and the Visalia Historic Preservation Advisory Committee ( HPAC) who will oversee the program. I look forward to more plaquing of Visalia’s nice old structures. The program is a great way of teaching local history and creating more interest in Visalia’s vintage and flourishing downtown area. The photos are thanks to Dana Lubich who also found a website that shows interior pictures of Palace Hotel http://www.flickr.com/photos/darrenlee/sets/72157621825888725/

100+ Year Old Relic Found!

In 1904, Visalia’s Carnegie Library was built on the northeast corner of Main and Encina streets. It was called the Visalia Free Library and had that name etched in a granite block above the entrance to the building. In 1936 that library was replaced by the WPA library building that is now the children’s library near Encina and School streets. The old Carnegie Library building was then demolished. Recently, Patrick Barszcz reported that a part of that etched granite name block from the old Carnegie Library was found. The piece says “Free Library.” The block is without the word “Visalia”. That piece is missing. It sure would be nice to do something interesting with the Free Library piece. Any ideas?

A Walk around Visalia

A new Visalia book has just been released! George Pilling called his publication A Walk around Visalia and it is now available for purchase. I have spent some time with it and am thoroughly enjoying it. I really like George’s approach in this book. It’s relaxing, almost “Mr. Rogers”-like and incorporates a nice blend of Visalia history and the current scene in our town. He describes several interesting Visalia walks that he maps out. The book is also packed with beautiful photographs. I encourage you to consider adding this one to your library. Christmas is coming up , too. To order your copy, go to his website at www.georgepilling.com Thanks George for giving us a nice book.

It’s Called the Shippey House

Teresa Williams and Robert Beckett own the beautiful old home located on the northeast corner of Court St and Tulare Ave. After doing some research, Teresa discovered that the home was built in 1914. They would sure like to be considered for a building plaque. According to them, the house was built by Daniel Shippey and his son Alvin Shippey, therefore Teresa and Robert affectionately call their home Shippey House. You can visit their website at www.shippeyhouse.com. Good luck Robert and Teresa on your goal of getting a plaque.

Estrada’s—A Deep Rooted Family & Restaurant

Remember this landmark business on Mooney Blvd? Recently, Sandy Newman shared some photographs of this long-time Visalia business—all taken in November 1993, shortly before the building was demolished, I believe. The Estrada’s restaurant story is a real success story that at one time also had a presence in Fresno and Colma. The Estrada family ran the restaurant from its beginning. The Visalia restaurant was located at 414 W. Main Street for years. In about 1958, the operation was moved to this Mooney Blvd. location (1545 So. Mooney). Thanks Sandy for reminding us of this important Visalia family and their business.

***A number of you have personal knowledge of the old buildings that made up Tarterville and provided nice tidbits of history. The structures were described as Quonset type buildings which meant they had curved metal roofs, similar to older military buildings. Thanks everyone for sharing their Tarterville stories.

***Sharon Logan Gregory mentioned Lindsay and Elaine Williams who she said owned the “Sin City” bar was at Main and Ben Maddox. For many years I have heard this bar mentioned, but I’ve never seen any photographs. Sin City apparently disappeared when Main Street was extended east of Ben Maddox. Can anyone provide photos or additional information on Sin City?

***Crop duster, Phil Kneeland, asked whether any aerial photographs of the Green Acres Airport (near Green Acres School) existed. I do not have any photographs of the old airport, but maybe you do? Please let me know if you have any and are willing to share.

***Jim Drath recently shared two old copies of the Visalia Daily Times from 1917. There are so many good stories about early Visalia inside, but one of special interest to me is the detailed article that discusses the possibility and desirability of creating a reservoir below Three Rivers for irrigation purposes. Thanks Jim for sharing.

Visalia, county seat of Tulare County, is one of the oldest as well as one of the prettiest and most prosperous cities of the San Joaquin Valley. Fresno Morning Republican, June 22, 1919

2011-10-05T19:46:00.000-07:00

Click on photo for larger image

Congratulations go to Art Browning who was first to successfully identify the old brick Bradley law office building on Church between Main and Acequia. Great old building with nice brick pattern on top.

Now for the next mystery spot. It is for the very observant. I just happened to notice it for the first time a few days ago. The clues are:

1. This marker/plaque is mounted facing the street that was once used as the entrance to Visalia from the west.
2. The plaque is mounted very close to the site of the smallest park in the world.
3. The plaque commemorates “Visalia’s Tree for Youth.”
4. The property where this plaque is mounted once belonged to a pioneer who came from a well-known Tulare County cattle ranching family.

Where is this plaque? Good luck.

Howard Ave and Iris Ave

Recently, I talked with Rosalie Buszek Powell about her father Buz Buszek and in the course of that conversation she told me that her family was friends with Howard and his wife Iris Straughn in the 1950s. Howard was in the real estate business, and it was he that was responsible for the naming of both Howard and Iris avenues sometime around 1952.

Tartarville—A Veteran Community on Campus

In the last HH I included an aerial photograph of Mooney Blvd in 1950. As part of that photo was a great view of the little community known as Tartarville, made up of a group of houses built on the northwest corner of the Visalia College (Now COS) campus. After World War II veterans returning to their hometowns, found housing shortages. Towns like Visalia tried to deal with the house problem. The building trades department at the college built 24 duplex buildings as can be seen in this aerial photograph. Frank Tebeau, a current COS welding instructor, was nice enough to share some history. He said the buildings were occupied by college veteran students and their families. According to the 1947 Tartar Yearbook, the students of the college had a contest to name the special housing area and Pat Lehn had the winning submission calling it “Tartarville.” Anyone know when Tartarville was disbanded?

Wander In – Stagger Out

Recently, I was contacted by Cheryl Jackson, an HH follower, who shared that she had found a brass token with the word Sweeney & Necklausson, Visalia, California on it. She also has blue chips from “The Stag.” On one side of the brass token it says “Good for 12 ½ cent cigar.” Cheryl also shared that her father, Beryl Logan worked at the Wunder Stag from about 1950 to about 1965 as a bartender and “house” card player. Visalia’s Pete Sweeney is the son of Carter Sweeney who owned the Wunder Stag for a long time and shared this photo. The Wunder & Stag were separate establishments for a number of years and in 1918 they combined to become one. An expression soon developed: “Wander In and Stagger Out.” The Wunder & Stag history in Visalia is colorful and interesting. When combined, the Wunder Stag was located near 115 E Main

Street about where Links store is now. Thanks Cheryl for reminding us of this historical part of Visalia’s past. By the way, at various times these establishments were saloons, cigar stores, billiard parlors and restaurants.

Classic Postcard Reveals Classic Home
A loyal HH follower shared an interesting story with me recently. In the early 1970s her mother saw a man standing outside her Visalia home alternately looking at her house and then looking down at a postcard. She talked to the man visiting Visalia from Ohio and discovered he had a commercially made postcard with a picture of her Visalia home. The Ohio man then gave her the postcard. The house was built in 1916 and over the years it has gone through considerable remodeling, especially in 1938. In many ways it does not even resemble the postcard image. The family continues to live in the home and is proud of their Visalia classic. Check your postcard collection—you may have this one. If you recognize this home and have any information about it, please let me know and I’ll share it with the owner.

Another Amazing Aerial Photograph

So many of you enjoyed the last aerial photograph of Visalia supplied by Bob Link, so I thought I’d include another. This one was also taken in 1950 and shows Mooney Blvd looking northbound from just south of Walnut Ave. What a difference 61 years made to Visalia! Enjoy.

***I received lots of comments on the noon horn. Thanks to all of you and especially Tony for sticking your voice out there to demonstrate. One more thing. I came across an article in 1878 from the Visalia Delta which said, “The steam whistle that proclaims the hour of noon to Visalians, is on the engine at the water works.

***I am getting ready to prepare and order a metal plaque for the buggy step that was restored in January, 2010. I would like to include on the plaque a relatively simple line drawing that would show how the buggy step was used. The art would accompany the text on the plaque. If you have any interest in creating a simple line drawing that I can include on the plaque, please contact me at histerry@comcast.net or (559) 901-3227. I need help on this one.

***Charles Loffland, an HH subscriber, commented on the old fire station photo after seeing it in the last HH. He remembered it, calling it a beautiful building and lamented that we lost it. Charles and others believe we need to preserve our old buildings in Visalia. I think it’s revealing that The Habit chose the 70-year old Mearle’s building and invested hundreds of thousands of dollars. Preserving our old buildings makes sense emotionally and economically.

***Regarding the Recreation Park playhouse mentioned a few postings back, Kim Gunter found out some things. She said, “Just spoke to Betty Anthony and asked her about the playhouse. She referred to it as the ball house. (She and her husband Dick lived in the house on the property from 1955 to 1964.) Nobody has a closer connection to Recreation Park than the Anthony’s. Betty taught most of us who grew up in Visalia to swim. At least those of us between the ages of 24 & 64. She said that earlier it was used for arts & crafts with the kids. Then they began to use it almost exclusively to store balls in, hence the name, The Ball House. She said that after the city decided to clear more of the property for sports and other activities, the house they lived in was sold and moved further north, their fence was demolished and so was the ball house, as far as she knows. A sad ending, but that was the way things were done in the mid-60s.”

***By the way, Harvey May of Paloma Development said he is planning to apply for a historic building plaque for the old Togni building on Main St. Glad to hear that Harvey.

***The mystery of the Ben Maddox Courts has been solved. I’ll share what has been shared with me, if you’ll email me.

***Thanks to Wesley Peck for all his Riggin Family history. He found some interesting material on a genealogy website.

Editorial Note: First of all let me apologize to my attorney friends—it appears lawyer jokes are not a recent phenomena. “Why are lawyers like a lazy man in bed in the morning? Because they lie first on one side and then turn over and lie on the other.” Visalia Weekly Delta, September 26, 1861

2011-09-13T10:29:00.000-07:00

Click on photo for larger imageThanks for visiting Historic Happenings! If you are not on the email list yet, 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 not share your email address with anyone without your permission.

Congratulations go out to Ed Stewart who was first to get the latest mystery spot identified. It was the old Railway Express Agency building at 225 No. Garden. It is now on The Depot Restaurant property and is the separate building on the southwest corner of Oak and Garden. Good job Ed, this was a tough one!

Now for the next mystery spot. Here are your clues:
1) It is on the site of the first church building in Visalia
2) The building is just south of the Fred Uhl building
3) It is just north of the old telephone company building
4) If you add the number together in the address it totals 7
Good luck.

Recently, I was talking with Nick Anthony a member of the pioneer Riggin family—a family that has had very little written about them. He shared that John Riggin, I believe the earliest Riggin family arrival in Tulare County , had a son named Lawrence and when Ave 312 was given a name, it was made Riggin Ave in honor of Lawrence and the Riggin family. The family owned property west of Visalia. Anyone know more about the Riggin family? We really need to get Riggin history into the books.

From Eyesore to Eye Popping!

Well, the new chapter in the life of the Mearle’s building is now beginning. For the last several months, we have witnessed the old-timer go from eyesore to eye popping and I know the community is grateful. We are so fortunate Dana Lubich has spent many hours with his still and video camera capturing the amazing transformation. Dana has pictorially documented the building in hundreds of photos showing the wonderful change. Here Dana gives us about a 3-minute slide show showing the transformation. Dana, your work is a community gift and we can’t thank you enough for the hundreds of slides/videos you took and the hundreds of hours you spent at that building. You have become an important part of the buildings history and we thank you. Turn your speakers up and watch Mearle’s become a Habit through Dana’s camera lens.

Visalia Aerial Photos Surface

Recently Mayor Bob Link told me of some copies of photographs of Visalia that had been given to him. Most of them are aerial shots from the 1950s. The one shown here is dated 1950. In this photo the view is looking southbound on Mooney Blvd. from about Mineral King. I have marked some streets with reference points. There is so much to learn and enjoy from these amazing old photos. Thanks, Mayor, for sharing them. As always, if any of you would like to see any of these photos or others that I have, I love sharing old Visalia. Just let me know.

Historic Buildings Will Get Plaques

For the past few years, Visalia has kicked around the idea of mounting identifying markers on historic buildings in town. Now the Visalia City Council has just approved the Historic Recognition Program (HRP). Buildings at least 75 years old are eligible for a plaque. See this design sample from another city. The plaque is not what ours will look like, but gives you an idea. This program is a great way to identify and appreciate Visalia’s great old buildings. We owe much to the Kaweah Kollectors who are the sponsors of this program and the Historic Preservation Advisory Committee who will oversee it. Nancy Loliva, Andy Chamberlain and a few others did the administrative work to get the program off the ground. Everyone did a great job on it. This is what the “Inside City Hall” electronic newsletter said about this program: “Historical Recognition Program Approved: The City Council approved a Historic Recognition Program (HRP) that allows interested building owners an opportunity to be considered for a plaque to identify buildings with local historical significance to the community. To qualify for an interpretive marker, the building must be at least 75 years old, researched for its authenticity, and at a minimum, the date of construction must be reasonably determined. The research and documentation must be conducted by qualified historical research personnel approved by the City of Visalia Historic Preservation Advisory Committee, and submitted with the application. Once mounted, all plaques become the property and responsibility of the building owner. The structure does not need to be within the City of Visalia Historic District or on the Local Register of Historic Structures. The estimated cost of each plaque with installation is $750, and funding is currently available through a $10,500 grant from Kaweah Kollectors.” For more specifics about the program go to http://www.ci.visalia.ca.us/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=11420

By the way, if you want to stay informed on general business/ activities within the city you can subscribe free to the “Inside City Hall.” Newsletter. It’s easy to sign up and a great way to stay informed. If interested go to the city’s website at http://www.ci.visalia.ca.us/ and click on About Visalia and go to Inside City Hall Newsletter. For help contact Community Relations Manager Nancy Loliva at nloliva@ci.visalia.ca.us or call 713-4535.

Old Togni Building Is Looking Good

Harvey May, the principal of Paloma Development and his investment group has been working hard on the old Togni-Branch building, formerly Cross Horlock at 116 E Main. It is a nice century-plus old building in the heart of downtown. They removed the metal sheeting off of the front months ago (thank you for that) and gave us back the upstairs windows. The ground floor interior has been remodeled and the upstairs interior is in the works. Much of the ground floor is occupied and anyone interested in possibly occupying space in the nice old building should contact Harvey at hmay@palomadev.com or 713-0202. By the way, Harvey is working on a historical display in the common areas as part of the building’s restoration and would like to make sure the Togni family is included. Stay tuned, there will be an open house down the road. Harvey, the work of your group is appreciated!

Visalia’s Noon BlastIn the last HH I mentioned Visalia’s noon horn or whistle. At twelve noon, Everyday like clockwork, it would sound. Bob Miller had mentioned it to me and when I included it in HH and asked readers about it, I was bombarded with responses. Some called it a whistle, some a siren, some a horn and some a bell. Tony Cornett, a firefighter who worked in the old fire department building, says the horn, and he said it was a horn, was located in the south tower of the old city hall/fire department building at Church and Acequia. Several others agree. Tony said the pitch or sound of the horn was “3 very deep bass type tones” that he said sounded exactly like AHHH HAWWW AHHHH, repeated 3 times in rapid succession. I am not kidding, Tony actually believed by spelling out the horn sound allowing us to pronounce it, we could immolate the horn sound. I wasn’t buying it, so Tony recreated the horn sound and I share it with you here. This is Tony making the horn sound. Tony you are one amazing guy. Your voice is now being heard all over the world. Everyone, please tell me how close he came.

***Speaking of the town whistle/horn, Eleanor Bergthold recalls, “During the 1940s, my mom’s extended family got together at my grandparents’ house for Sunday dinner. On what must have been Sunday, September 2, 1945, several of my cousins and I were sitting in my grandparents’ front yard when the town whistle started blowing multiple times—a most unusual happening. Before long we were told by our parents that the war was officially over – a great relief since four of my mother’s brothers and one of my dad’s were in the service. (My mom’s 19-year old brother had very recently been killed in Okinawa in what would be the final assault of the war.”

***Steven Cullen, after reading the HH item about Visalia Olive Oil, shared that at some point, the U. S. changed olive oil import laws that had protected U.S. olive growers. He said the new import laws favored poor European countries (Italy) and California olive growers were economically hurt by it.

In 1870, after much water puddling in Visalia, the Delta facetiously reported: Good Investment—Any person wishing to go into the duck business can find a good pond on Court, between Main and Acequia streets. It also [is] a good opening for the establishment of a ferry, if a franchise could be obtained from the Roadmaster of this district. Visalia Weekly Delta, May 25, 1870

2011-08-19T20:10:00.000-07:00

Peter Cowper jumped all over the latest mystery spot and he did it in record time. He identified the correct building as the 210 Center on the northwest corner of Center and Locusts streets (Studebaker Corner.) Good work Peter. Actually, over 40 of you got this one.

Okay here we go with the next one. The clues are:

1) The business in this building was known by the initials REA

2) The company that occupied this building shipped lots of freight

3) The front and back of this building have the same architectural features

4) If you add up the numbers in the street address it totals “9”

Good luck.

Richard Drath Finds Some Historical Treasures

Tucked away in private collections are amazing pieces of Visalia memorabilia and history. Jim and Shirie Drath have been very generous in sharing their family’s collection of Visalia memorabilia. And now Richard Drath has shared with us his special finds. The blue or aqua bottle was a bottle made especially for the Visalia’s centennial celebration in 1974. It is embossed on one side with The End of the Trail statue and on the other side it has the embossed 1974 centennial celebration information. By the way, 1974 was the 100th anniversary of Visalia’s incorporation. It is a handmade bottle, very limited edition, made by the South Jersey Glass Company, actually called the Clevenger Bros Glass Works out of Clayton, New Jersey. This bottle is a beauty. The other item Richard shared is a tin container full of Visalia Pride Olive Oil. This unopened tin was packed by Superior Olive Products Co. in Visalia. Looks to me like it is from the 1940s. Thanks Richard for your generosity.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Kelly Curran asked about pictures and some history of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. So here goes. Episcopal missionaries probably visited Visalia in the mid 1870s, but according to Royal W. Corson, Jr. who wrote “A History of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church” in 1962, the missionary efforts “bore little fruit.” He recorded that the first regular Episcopal service in Visalia was held on Tuesday, June 29, 1879, and 20 people attended the service. The congregation continued meeting at different locations, but the first church building was completed in 1894 and is shown in here a linoleum cut by Alice Rouleau in Corson’s book. The second photograph is the second St. Paul’s Church located at Center and Encina built in 1898. Hope this helps and thanks for asking Kelly.

More About the Visalia Municipal Hospital
Joseph Vicenti has joined the Visalia Hospital conversation. He shared a copy of the Visalia Municipal Hospital Patient Handbook. It was prepared probably in the 1950s by the Visalia Municipal Hospital Guild, a group of volunteers that continues to do great things for the hospital today. The booklet explains that the Visalia Municipal Hospital was organized in October 1936 with the original building providing 32 patient beds. When this booklet was published (probably in the 1950s) there were 68 beds with 134 full and part time hospital employees on the payroll. The booklet explains that the Visalia City Council also served as the Hospital Board of Trustees. Oh yes, the handbook reminds the patients and visitors via a cartoon, that no smoking is permitted in the rooms. Rules, rules, rules, always rules!

Merrill Hinds—A Visalia Chippie

Barbara Hinds Joseph has been sharing information with me about her father Merrill Hinds. Merrill lived with his family in Visalia at 913 W Noble Ave. He was on the California Highway Patrol from 1935 to 1964 and much of that time as a motorcycle traffic officer. He worked out of the Visalia office until 1954 when he transferred to Santa Cruz. While he worked in Visalia as a traffic officer, he also worked with Wayne Wilson at Wilson Cyclery, as a second job. Merrill loved motorcycles. The first photo shows Merrill standing by his motorcycle

with his daughter Marilyn in front and Barbara sharing the seat in the back. The house in the background was across the street from the family home—a house that no longer stands as it was taken out when the 198 freeway was put through. The second photo is Merrill in March 1962 at Santa Cruz, shortly before retirement. Barbara, thanks for sharing some of your family photos and history.

Practically Preposterous Walking Tour—Women and Children First
The Literacy Center here in Visalia has something special in store for us. Based on, at least in part, the historic record of the 1862 Visalia flood, the Literacy Center is planning on presenting a very entertaining and historical walking tour. Here is what they have in store: In 1862, Mary Brown, her two-week old daughter, her sister Charlotte Dineley and her three-week old daughter floated around Charlotte’s back yard on a carpenter’s bench. This was not a play date for the children. The mothers and babies were waiting for rescue from the rising flood waters of what is the worst flood in California history. Learn what happened to the sisters and their daughters at the Practically Preposterous Walking Tour sponsored by the Tulare County Library Literacy Center on September 23rd. 3 hour-long sessions are scheduled, one each at 4pm, 5pm and 6pm. Six stops will be made in the old Visalia downtown area with volunteers acting the parts of Visalians affected by the flood. The tour is a fundraiser for the Read to Succeed Literacy program. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at the Literacy Center, 417 N. Locust Street, Visalia until September 16. No tickets will be sold at the event. For further information, call 713-2745.

*** Dana Lubich has been documenting the transformation of the Mearle’s building into The Habit. He has taken hundreds of photographs and video clips and is in the process of deciding how to present the story. What a nice contribution to Visalia history and the story of the Mearle’s building Dana. Thanks. I know whatever you do will be very professional.

***Bob Miller, a HH follower, told me that years ago about noon a whistle in Visalia would blow. He said the whistle was so loud that on some days it could be heard all the way to Mooney Grove Park. Does anyone else remember it? Was it a siren or just a long blast on a whistle? I’d like to know more about that if you have more information. When did this whistle blowing stop?

** *Bob Miller also remembers what he called the 1961 Halloween Bash. According to him there were at least 10,000 kids on Main Street on Halloween and there were an abundance of eggs and water balloons. I can see where this is going! Anyone remember this? By the way unless there was a murder involved, the statue of limitations has expired, so you can come clean. What was so special about that particular year or were all the Halloweens events in the ‘60s that rambunctious?

*** Carole Mathewson who grew up in Visalia has a question. She recalls as a young girl in the mid to late 1940s seeing an old man with a long white beard with a horse and buggy. She recalls seeing him as she sat on the benches by the library. He would go down Locust Street in the buggy and he would tie up his rig behind the old Purity Store on the northeast corner of Locust and Center. By the way, in the 1940s horses and buggies as a means of transportation were very unusual in Visalia. Any ideas as to who this bearded gentleman was or what he was doing?

In Spanishtown, Monday night, Wm. Cochran, while under the influence of liquor, drew his revolver, commenced shooting promiscuously, and was finally arrested by the City Marshal. In the melee he drew a knife and cut the hand of Sheriff Wells in two or three places. On Tuesday he was tried before Justice Johnson and fined in the sum of $41.Visalia Weekly Delta, April 7, 1882

2011-08-01T18:28:00.000-07:00

Click on photo for larger image

Congratulations go to Joseph Vicenti who was the first to get the latest mystery spot. He correctly identified the old brick building located on the west side of West Street between Main and Center streets—probably best known as the Wilson’s Cyclery building.

The next mystery spot should be easier. Here are the clues:

1) It is located on Studebaker Corner
2) Divine intervention helped to save this building
3) At one time this building was connected to “Monkey Wards.”

4) Toys played a big part in this building’s history.

Good luck.

Things Go Better With Coke

Art Browning, a loyal follower of HH, worked for Coca Cola from 1959-1969 delivering coke products throughout Visalia and the general area. As a result, he knows a lot about Visalia’s earlier businesses and buildings. Here is his 1953 era International delivery truck in front of the company location at 1020 E. Acequia (northwest corner of Edison and Acequia). The local Coke Company was owned by Coca Cola of Fresno. Building still stands today but hardly is connected to Coke. Thanks, Art for sharing.

Grant Street

Huet & Ethyl Grant inherited land from the S. J. Kelly estate. The Grants grew Thompson grapes, boysenberries, dried raisins and had walnuts in the mid 1940s. They also raised chickens. When this land (just south of Mt. Whitney High School) was subdivided, Grant Street began appearing on the maps.

Better Kaweah Hospital Photographs Surface

In the last HH, I displayed a fairly poor photograph of the Kaweah Hospital. Marian Cote found a couple better photos that I want to share. They are part of the “California’s New Deal Project.” Sure glad they found these pictures. In the aerial shot the hospital is in the foreground and you’ll notice the Fox Theatre in the background. Thanks for finding these photographic treasurers, Marian.

Interior View of the Palace Hotel
Back in May, HH included a couple interior pictures of the Hotel Johnson. Since then I have had a request from Kaci, an HH follower, for an interior photo of the Palace Hotel. The Palace dates back to 1876. It has gone through a number of remodels and changes, but the building still stands on the northeast corner of Main and Court. Notice the old picture hanging on the wall.

What Happened to the Playhouse at Recreation Park?

Sue Browning, Art’s wife, remembers a little playhouse that was at Recreation Park in about 1945. It was near the swimming pool and she wonders what happened to it. Sue is the little girl by the playhouse in this photograph. You can see the railroad tracks in the background near where the recreation building is today on Jacob Street. Anyone know where the playhouse went?

*** Melba Moss Bishop, a former Visalian, use to live with her grandmother, Ona Moss, in a little house in a little area called Ben Maddox Way Courts or Cabins. Melba is trying to find out where the “courts” or “cabins” area was. There was a little store in front with gas pumps and the cabins were placed in a circle.

***Thanks to all of you who passed along your combined high school graduation ceremony information. It was very helpful.

***The McDonald’s Café item in a past HH brought out lots of memories. The photograph of McDonald’s Café on Main brought out memories but the McDonald’s Drive-In at 110 No. Floral (Center and Floral) stirred some interest also. Sure like to see a picture of the drive-in.

***Norm Atkins did some detective work on the last HH photo of orange shaped Reed & Bell. He noted that on the Fox Theatre marquee it said Chester Morris & Virginia Grey. He found out that the movie was Thunder Afloat released in 1939. He concluded that because the Fox played first run movies, 1939 would be the date of the photograph. Good work, Norm.

With no new cases reported since Saturday, the poliomyelitis epidemic in Visalia appeared to be on the wane today. The fact that the outbreak is apparently under control is expected to result in the lifting of the ban on amusement centers, and it is reported that the city council may take action at a meeting to be held tomorrow night recommending that health authorities allow theatres, dance halls and other establishments to reopen after being closed for the past two weeks. Visalia Times Delta August 26, 1935.

2011-07-03T22:58:00.000-07:00

Wow, this one proved to be a tough one! Carole Mathewson, a former Visalian now living in Payson, Arizona was first to get it. Not surprising though, as her roots run deep in Visalia. Congratulations Carole for that long distance win! By the way, the correct answer was the decorative section above the main front entrance to the 1935 courthouse annex on Court between Center and Oak streets.

Now for the new one. Where is this building? Here are the clues:

1) The building once housed Gross and Stevens auto repair
2) It was across the street from Tom’s Automotive
3) I believe the business today continues to work on vehicles
4) When you add the street address numbers together, they total “7”.
Good luck.

Race Ave

In the late 1850s, the people of Visalia enjoyed the sport of horse racing—both as participants and observers. In fact, Visalia had a horse racing track near what is now the Ice House Theatre. Few details are known about the track, but Race Ave gets its name from that popular Visalia hangout.

The Other McDonald’s

Eleanor Bergthold mentioned McDonald’s Café recently. Not the McD’s we hear so much about today with Big Mac, but another McDonald’s. It was a fairly regular stop for her family for Sunday dinner. It was located across from the Fox Theatre. This circa 1963 photo shows it about where Little Italy is now. At one time there was a second McDonald’s Café in Visalia located at Center and Floral streets, and there were others throughout the valley. The company printed beautiful artistic placemats and here is a portion showing Visalia.

The Gas Company Building – Dramatic Changes

Sometime ago Norm Atkins shared a nice old photograph of the Southern California Gas Co. building on the southwest corner of Main and Floral streets. Norm transferred with the company to the Visalia office in 1974 and retired in 1993. The building has gone through considerable change over the years as you can see. Norm pointed out that in the Gas Company’s early years, the company actually sold appliances, which explains the display windows.. The Gas Company also had people who demonstrated gas appliances and they held cooking classes so they had a small auditorium in the building. Thanks Norm for sharing this great old photograph.

More Hospital History
The old Kaweah Hospital/Garcia House that I mentioned in a past HH created considerable interest. Jan Morrison asked about the single story, red brick, double wing hospital that replaced the Garcia House. After the Garcia House/Kaweah Hospital that was located where the Visalia Times Delta is now, was vacated, a new hospital was built where Kaweah Delta is now. The new 32-bed hospital was built with Works Progress Administration (WPA) money and had its open house in October, 1936. The current Kaweah Delta Hospital is on the same site and replaced the WPA structure in 1969 when the new hospital opened. Does anyone have a nice clear photo of the old WPA hospital? By the way, Ernest J. Kump was the WPA hospital architect.

Reed and Bell – A Part of A & W

Recently, Susan Mangini posed a question about an orange shaped eatery on Main Street. She thought it could have been an A&W or Reed and Bell. I located a photo, not a nice direct shot, but a photo nonetheless that shows the orange shaped building on the far left. It looks to me to be on the corner of West and Main streets, south side of the street. Is this the building, Susan? If it is, it could be Visalia’s Reed and Bell Drive-in, and it was probably the beginning of A&W in Visalia. The Reed & Bell Drive-in was located at Main and West at 501 W. Main and I show it there in the mid 1920s. Roy Allen sold A&W franchises to Lewis Reed and H. C. Bell and Visalia had one of them. So Susan, I don’t know that I know the complete answer to your question. Reminds me of the big oranges that at one time were up and down SR 99.

*** Tom Lewis (Mt. Whitney Grad 1967) thought he recalled combined Mt. Whitney and Redwood High graduation ceremonies. Were there ever combined graduations? Can anyone help?

***Several leads and ideas have come in on the Mixter Drug scale, but none that totally solve the mystery.

***Re: The Habit that is taking over the Mearles site, the malt or soda glass that was on the top panel of the building is coming back after restoration. It will be put back on the building.

***Joseph Johnson is looking for information. “I have family who have been in Visalia, California since the 1800s. They were into mining and lumber. My grandfather, Joseph H. Johnson was a businessman in Visalia. I am trying to find any information on a sawmill or lumber yard he may have had there, near the old train depot. This was before 1950, and I remember all of the machinery being driven by leather belts, powered by steam engine from an overhead system of pulleys. If you can put me in touch with anybody who remembers this or has any information pertaining to this, I would greatly appreciate it.” Can anyone help Joseph?

A bill is under consideration in the legislature authorizing cities and counties to license bicycles, the fees collected to go towards constructing exclusive bicycle paths along country roads. The cyclers have been the most persistent advocates of good roads, and the idea of placing a part of the tax incident to their construction directly on the wheelmen will meet no serious objection.

Visalia’s Tulare Times, January 26, 1899

2011-06-09T19:13:00.000-07:00

Congratulations go out to James Hitchcock who got the latest mystery spot correct. The building is the IOOF Building on Court Street (Sharples is on the ground floor) between Main and Acequia. Good job again, James.

Now for the next one. Where is this building? Here are the clues:

1) It was built 1935

2) It shared the block with Minerva for many years

3) It was built because there was a need for more space

4) For many decades the site was a community gathering point

Good luck!

Old City Hall Cornerstone Uncovered

Today I received a call from Brian Vanciel, City of Visalia Wastewater Collection Supervisor and he told me his crew had found an interesting historical relic behind the City of Visalia police and fire departments along Mill Creek. I met his crew (Rick Paredez, Cruz Ruiz and Geraldo Silva) and they told me they had been cleaning brush along Mill Creek and discovered a historical marker built into a concrete cinderblock wall. I looked at it and believed it had been part of a former city hall building at Acequia and Church. I later verified it. Why it was saved from the razing of the old city hall building, I don’t know, but I suspect they didn’t have the heart to toss out the old historic relic. Now it can be seen in a concrete wall just on the north side of Mill creek between Johnson and Stevenson. By the way, my records indicate the old city hall building that it was part of, was built in 1910 and torn down in 1970. At that time the new city hall was built near Acequia and Johnson which might explain why they took the cornerstone and incorporated into the wall. The 100 year old plus etched stone is a nice visual when walking along Mill Creek.

Mixter’s Drug and the Special Scale

For many years Mixters Drug sat on the corner of Main and Court streets on the ground floor of the old Palace Hotel shown here in 1939. Barbara Hinds Joseph recalls that the Mixters Drug Store, had an old scale that was located in the back of the store near the pharmacy counter. In 1983, she had her picture taken next to the scale. Barbara would like to know what happened to it. Anyone know?

Remember Longs?

Jon Greeson shared this photograph with us. A longtime Longs Drug employee (1982-2010), Jon misses his old employer. Longs was bought out by CVS. The Longs shown here opened at the Visalia Fair Mall in November 1964 and was located where Old Navy is now. Thanks Jon.

Livestock Sales Yard

Former Visalian Jim Parks shared a photograph taken by his father James L. Parks, showing the dedication ceremony for the new livestock sales yard. This photo was taken from the top of the Sequoia Walnut Growers facility at Ben Maddox and Goshen on March 9, 1940 and shows the hundreds of people in attendance Thanks Jim for sharing your dad’s photograph. By the way, Sandy Newman provided a written copy of the Farm Bureau and Livestock Marketing Association History. Great stuff!

Mearle’s is Flying High
Well, another piece of the Mearle’s Drive In chapter is no more. On Tuesday, June 7, 2011, all the Mearle’s signs came down from the 71-year old building to make way for the restoration of the old timer. The Mearle’s tower sign (the one at the very top of the building) went up in 1962 we believe, and it became a welcome sight for many travelers and locals hungry for a tasty meal. The almost 50-year old Mearle’s sign was a beacon of sorts, and now makes way for a new chapter for the old building. I look forward to the new chapter (The Habit) for this landmark building. By the way, the Mearle’s signs are now safely at the Tulare County Museum at Mooney Grove Park.

Charles Whitmore—Another Prominent Visalia Journalist

Sheila Holder recently visited Mary Elizabeth, the daughter of Charles Whitmore, a former editor of the Visalia Times. Delta and she shared this group photo with Sheila. He was born in 1876, came to Visalia in 1906, and in 1909 he purchased the Visalia Delta and ran the newspaper until the 1928 merger of the Delta and the Times, although he remained with the Visalia Times Delta until 1944. He was on the State Board of Education and he was a State Highway Commissioner. He died in 1949 in Los Angeles. This photograph shows the Whitmore family with a who’s who of Visalians on the front porch of the Whitmore home at 300 West Grove. Home still stands today. I wonder why Nat Levy (the man in the lower left) has a garden hose in his hand?

***Gilbert Gia, well-known Kern County historian, is so generous in sharing Tulare County/Visalia history that he finds in the Bakersfield Californian newspaper. His latest sharing is a story about “The Four Horsemen” (Tulare County boys) who joined the R.A.F. (Royal Air Force) before the U.S. entered World War II. Thanks, Gil.

***Alan George identified the artist of the Visalia illustrated map highlighted in the last HH as K. Kramer. Anyone know anything about him? He did a similar Tulare County map.

***Speaking of the Hotel Johnson, Karen Kirkpatrick has an old iron bed frame from the hotel and I have 2 Astra Bentwood dining room chairs from there also. And by the way, according to Sally Gerrard Boyne, the Stephen Gerrard family had lunch there after church each Sunday. Sally called it “elegant.”

***Anyone remember Sierra Blvd? Art Browning tells me that prior to the 198 Freeway, Sierra Blvd ran east and west, but was only located west of Visalia.

***Duane Copley shared that he and his brothers were raised in the family home at 800 W. Myrtle, part of the Home Builders Tract. He recalls some of his neighbors were, the Chambers (Dry Cleaners), John Locke (the judge), Annie Mitchell (Tulare County historian, and More Peterson (county official.)

***Bill Allen’s wife Margaret is the sister of Evelyn Jordan, a former owner of the old Garcia home—the house that became Kaweah Hospital. Dwight, her husband, and Evelyn Jordan were the last to live in the house before the property was sold to the Visalia Times Delta and the house came down.

***Joseph Johnson emailed me and advised that he had descendants in Visalia all the way back to the 1800s. His grandfather, Joseph H. Johnson was a Visalia businessman who had a sawmill or lumberyard near the “train depot.” Anyone know that name Joseph H. Johnson? If so, let me know and I’ll pass along the information.

Griffis Park - Visalia’s Exclusive Residence Tract

Your attention is again called to the location on South Court Street—north of Tulare Avenue. Only short walk from Palace Hotel corner. If you are at all interested in providing yourself and family with a home in this City’s finest neighborhood which is restricted against all persons other than Caucasians, and eight other specific restrictions which are protective to your best interests—then either call at the office or phone, and one of our salesmen will be pleased to interview you at your convenience.

Part of an ad from the Visalia Morning Delta, January 24, 1915

2011-05-27T07:48:00.000-07:00

Art Browning correctly identified the last mystery spot as the old Purity Store building on the northeast corner of Center and Court streets. Congratulations, Art! This is two in a row for you.

Check out the new mystery spot. I don’t think you can miss this one. Here are the clues:
1) Julius Levy was an early founder of the organization that continues to occupy the building.
2) It was known as the Brown Building for many years because it was built by Samuel Carr Brown.
3) The building at one time housed the Model Department Store
4) The building had a serious fire in 1949.
Where is this building? Good luck!

Kaweah Hospital

Art Browning and Barbara Hinds Joseph both shared early recollections of old Visalia and both mentioned the early Kaweah Hospital. Barbara in fact was born there, and so was Pauline Crutts Bowers. Art recalls after it ceased being a hospital it was converted to an apartment building called the Victoria Apts. Art and his wife rented the old operating room after the Brownings were married in 1958. By the way, the old Kaweah Hospital served from 1921-1937 and its address was 415 W. School, where the Visalia Times Delta is now. Before becoming a hospital in 1921, it was owned by J. V. Garcia and some still refer to it as the Garcia Home. Before the Garcias, it was owned by Donald Malloch.

Woolworths/Sam Goody—Visalia Fair Mall

In the last issue of HH, I mentioned that an HH follower asked about a photograph of Woolworths and Sam Goody, businesses in the old Visalia Fair Mall. I actually had a photo showing Woolworth’s located on the north side of the mall. Regarding Sam Goody, I’m told it was where Red Robin is now. I have found no exterior photographs, but here is an interior photo showing, on the left Karen Russell Kirkpatrick and on the right Ann Celery Hansen, both Sam Goody employees in the mid 1980s. Notice the shelves lined with music cassette tapes—almost all museum pieces now. Karen is a faithful HH follower and thanks for allowing me to share this photograph. One other historical point. Visalia Fair Mall reportedly was the first of the San Joaquin Valley’s air conditioned mall shopping centers. It was built in 1964.

Old Visalia Illustrated Map

Recently, native Visalian, Alan George gave me a copy of a historically illustrated map of Visalia. It is marked Visalians, Inc. 1992 on the lower right corner. Very nicely done with great artwork. Anyone know who did the artwork? Thanks Alan.

Interior Hotel Johnson—A Beauty on the Inside, too.

In the last HH, the Hotel Johnson was featured. In its heyday, it was a real beauty and James Hitchcock asked about interior photos. Here are a couple during its glory days in 1938. As mentioned before, it was located on the northeast corner of Main and Church streets and built in 1917. A fire destroyed it in 1968. By the way, Nancy Barnes mentioned that her aunt and uncle ate every lunch and dinner at the hotel for over 20 years. That’s pretty amazing!

***A couple of postings back of HH, I mentioned the “Blood Bucket.” HH follower George Reece recalls a bar near Linnell Camp unofficially called the “Blood Bucket.” He was a liquor control officer in the early 1950s and recalls the bar acquired the rather descriptive name Blood Bucket for obvious reasons.
***After several years of preliminary work, the Home Builders Tract of homes just north of Mt. Whitney is edging closer to historic status. The 100+ homes represent 1920s and 1930s architectural and deserve recognition as a historic district. The area lies between Watson and Conyer and Mineral King and Myrtle streets.
***Pauline Crutts Bowers would like to know if anyone knew any member of the Cigrand and Crutts families of Visalia. Let me know and I’ll pass along the information.
***Art Browning shared that he thought the Visalia Chicken Hawks team was a girls softball team. Any former Chicken Hawks out there?
***Erin Hayden believes Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, after a Visalia Country Club Golf Tournament, visited the Crowe’s.

The Slop Man

Slowly he drives around the town
With his ill-smelling load,
And as he goes a trail of filth
Streaks and defiles the road.
A scene like this disturbs one’s nose
And aggravates one’s sight;
The city dads should make the chap
Pursue his rounds at night.
Visalia Daily Morning Delta, February 25, 1897

2011-05-08T19:41:00.000-07:00

Good job Art! The last mystery spot was correctly identified as Pacific House on the northwest corner Church and Oak streets. Art Browning was the first to get it, but over 20 of you also identified it correctly. Now the next one is going to be a little harder. Here are the clues:

1) The building was built as a market and sold meat, groceries, fruit, and vegetables

2) It was part of a grocery chain

3) The building was built in 1937

4) The business boasted that the building had “produce fixtures of the latest type with the use of water sprays and suction fans to keep vegetables garden fresh.”

Good luck.

Johnson Hotel—One of the Finest

The 5-story Hotel Johnson was finished in 1917 and for many years it was considered one of the finest hotels in the San Joaquin Valley. It proudly stood on the northeast corner of Main and Church streets (where the Bank of America is now.) J. C. Hickman, as a Visalia Times Delta reporter went there often to attend service club meetings including Rotary. Many remember the beautiful old hotel. On May 3, 1968, a fire started in the building, probably from a guest smoking in bed, and J. C. Hickman covered the story. The building was not totally destroyed, but the age of the building and the damage made it an easy mark for the wrecking ball. By the way, the Hotel Johnson fire claimed two lives.

Visalia’s Night Hawks

Barb Armo, daughter of Jack and Lillie Armo, asked a question about what team her father might have played baseball for in the 1930s. According to my records, there were a number of teams during that period of time, some representing businesses and service clubs in town. But by far the most successful and popular of the teams was the Visalia Night Hawks. My guess is that Jack Armo played for the Night Hawks. The team was big in the 1930s and played other valley teams like the Hanford Kings, Porterville Reds and the Dinuba Sun Maids. The Night Hawks played at Recreation Park and the ticket price was ten cents per game. Can anyone help Barb in identifying the team that perhaps her father, Jack Armo, might have played for? By the way this team logo patch is believed to be from the Night Hawks, although it is possible that it represented the female team known as the Visalia Chicken Hawks. Does anyone know which team used this patch? It is a beauty!

Bing and Bob at Sequoia Field
Several postings ago in HH, the subject of Bing Crosby and Bob Hope coming to Sequoia Field was mentioned. There was good circumstantial evidence to suggest that it was true, but now we have what I believe to be, smoking gun evidence. This photo came to me from a credible source and on the back of the picture is written Sequoia Field 1941. Clearly it now appears that Bing and Bob did make their appearance at Sequoia Field. On a related subject, Leslie Caviglia, supplied this photo of Bing Crosby in 1975 showing her father-in-law James “Jim” Caviglia with Bing Crosby in one of the family’s orange groves. Bing came to the Caviglia orange grove to shoot a Florida Orange Juice commercial. Yes a Florida orange juice commercial and it raised some eyebrows among the neighboring Tulare County orange growers.

Mineral King Ave

Mineral King Ave has its origin with the old mountain mining and resort area by the same name. As early as 1898 references were being made to the Mineral King road heading east out of town. When the town was first laid out, the street on the town’s south boundary was called South St. Later it was changed to Mineral King.

Two Old Publications Surface

J. C. Hickman, a career newspaperman and former managing editor of the Visalia Times Delta, recently shared two important historical Visalia publications. One was a magazine called “Achievement Number” published by the Visalia Daily Times in 1914. It is packed with ads, photographs and stories. The magazine provides valuable insight into the life in Visalia almost 100 years ago. The second magazine called Sunset was a publication of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company and was published in 1904. Inside there is a 10-page article called “The Story of Visalia” with photographs. Both of these magazines are great resources. Thanks for sharing, J.C.

***In the January 26, 2011 posting of HH, a reader asked about a bar east of Visalia known as the “Blood Bucket.” Joseph Vicente did some checking and noticed in the October 19, 1946, Visalia Times Delta a reference to a “bloody bucket district.” It was just a passing reference and apparently was referring to an area east of Visalia. Not much, but a little something for those interested. Still no Blood Bucket.

***The Visalia United School District is asking the public for possible names for the new schools they will soon build. So far, two HH readers are suggesting the names Michael Mooney and another Ralph Moore. Both names are well-founded in Visalia history and both would be positive names for a Visalia school.

***The Southern Sierra Archaeology Society has asked if I would present a program on Fort Visalia. I agreed to do it and it is free and open to the public. The program will be at the Tulare County Office of Education building on Burrel in Visalia at 7:00pm on Tuesday, May 17, 2011

***Remember Woolworth’s and Sam Goody’s in the Visalia Fair Mall? Remember Gemco and Kay Bee Toys on Mooney Blvd. An HH reader would sure like to see a photo of these from that 1980s period. Any pictures out there?

“There is no town in California that can compete with Visalia when it comes to graceful and accomplished lady dancers.” Daily Morning Delta, September 17, 1896

2011-04-20T16:09:00.000-07:00

Click on photo for larger image

Congratulations Susan! Susan Mangini was the first to identify the mystery spot. It is east wall on the Starbucks building at the corner of Main and Court streets.

Okay, here’s the next one and much easier. The clues are:

1) It was an early lodging house

2) It was the site of the Andrew Belz Blacksmith Shop

3) The building was built in the 1880s

4) The building is within a stone’s throw of an early hoosegow.

Sequoia Walnut – James L. Parks

Jim Parks, a former Visalian, shared some early information about his father, James L. Parks, who managed the Sequoia Walnut Growers facility in Visalia at the corner of Goshen and Ben Maddox. Sequoia Walnut started about 1933 and James was the company’s 2nd manager (1934-1973). The Parks family had a ranch at Lovers Lane and Caldwell. Here is Jim’s father as manager. By the way, Jim attended Conyer and Jefferson Schools in Visalia. Thanks Jim for sharing.

Sugar Beet Factory – William Root Chivers

Recently, I heard from Evan Long who while going through family photographs came across this interesting old one. Taken at the Sugar Factory at Visalia, this photograph shows workers there, one of which is Evan’s grandfather, William Root Chivers is the man kneeling at the far left. He’s holding something, but we are unsure what it is. The Sugar Factory was on Santa Fe (notice the tracks) at Tulare Ave or “K” road. It closed in 1919 and the operation moved to Hooper, Utah, Evan believes. Thanks Evans for sharing this great and old photograph.

Mobil Executive Meets Bob Morris – Visalia Airport

Dana Lubich recently looked at the Visalia pictorial history book and surprisingly on page 163, he saw his grandfather unidentified in one of the photos. Robert “Bob” Morris is the man on the left. Bob was apparently meeting with a Mobil executive. Neat old photo, car, and trailer! It was taken at the Visalia Airport.

Oaks Are Disappearing - 1904

Gilbert Gia, a very good historian and writer from Kern Co., shared a Bakersfield Morning Echo newspaper article from 1904. In part it says, “It is a very sad fact to record that those fine groves of handsome oak trees that nature planted about the country between Tulare and Visalia are being rapidly wiped out by the wood-chopper’s ax. Many of the finest of them have already been reduced to a dreary stretch of stumpage and others are dotted with the white tents of the destroyers. Since the first settlers came to Tulare County, these oak trees have been its chief feature of beauty and attractiveness. They have tempered the weeds in winter and summer. They have been a godsend to the picnicker and the wayfarer and have given the country a picturesque, woodsy and home like appearance in sharp contrast to desert plains both to the north and south.”

1855 Visalia Postal Cover

John Crenshaw acquired a cover or envelope a couple of years ago. It is dated December 1855 and John said it is the only known manuscript cover from Visalia. Wow, that is rare! It is about 5 ¼” x 3”. J. P. Majors was Visalia’s first postmaster appointed in 1855 and served until 1858. In 1855 about 300 people lived n Visalia. Thanks, John for sharing. Thanks also, Marian, for your research.

Street Signs – Dudley St.

Benjamin Dudley, son of the pioneer Tulare County cattleman, Moses Dudley, built the house/mansion at Giddings and Main. Still standing and beautifully restored, the Dudley House was built about 1917. Ben Dudley became a wealthy oil man and was one of the developers of this area (Main just east of Giddings) and it was called Parkside Tract.

***After the last HH and the article about the fallout shelter, many of you shared your stories. It is amazing how many underground shelters honeycomb Visalia.

***Regarding the Dr. Rey story in the last HH, a reader mentioned the registered quarter horse named Joe Pan that the vet had owned. Can you give more detail, MSC?

***Well, it is finally done. The Christ Lutheran Church history book is at Josten’s and should be in our hands by May 12. It is about 200 pages with photographs. It is being done as part of the churches 50th anniversary celebration (1961-2011).

***Former Visalian Bob Goode (1947 Visalia Union High School grad) found HH recently and took a trip down memory lane. He remembered the Sierra Ballroom (where he met his wife to be, Jean Bryant, on St. Patrick’s Day, 1949) and Visalia Police Officer Floyd Depew, who he called “The scourge of high school kids with cars,” were just a couple of topics he shared. He also said that Floyd “pinched me twice for modified mufflers in my 1937 Chevy.” By the way, Bob left Visalia for the California Highway Patrol in 1955 and retired in 1984. Thanks, Bob for returning to Visalia through Historic Happenings.

***Great news! Sounds like the historic Depot Restaurant is going to the Vartanian and Shuklian families. They appreciate the historic nature of the building and I am grateful it is going into such capable hands.

“Judging from the numerous calls for physicians the past week, we should judge that those in attendance at the late camp meeting had more of them caught the chills and fever by camping in the swamp than had obtained forgiveness of their sins.” Visalia Weekly Delta, September 15, 1860.

2011-03-02T15:59:00.000-08:00

Click on photo for larger image
Thanks for visiting Historic Happenings! If you are not on the email list yet, 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 not share your email address with anyone without your permission.

Well, we have a winner! Art Browning correctly identified the mystery spot as the Sweet Building in the 100 block of East Main Street; the building that houses Links and other stores. Good job Art.

The next mystery spot for you history detectives is another building with interesting features. Here are the clues
1)      The building is home to several businesses – one being a popular beverage store
2)      It is a building that is in the old “Holt Block
3)      One of the business in this building, some 30 years ago, was known for its tasty treats
4)      One of the business located here in the 1970s had a name that meant “frugal”. Where is this building? Good Luck

Santa Fe Medallion

As you know, Dana Lubich won the contest for the design of the 4 bronze medallions that now are mounted on the overcrossing pillars at Santa Fe and Noble/Mineral King streets. For his successful artistry, he won a $1,000 prize and the honor of having his work mounted in perpetuity. Quite an honor Dana, your work is beautiful. Dana was recognized by the Visalia City Council, and was featured in the Visalia Times Delta. Dana is an HH subscriber and is a regular contributor. Here’s a little secret. As you may recall a while back, we recognized Dana’s grandfather, Robert Morris in HH. He was the Mobil Gas Station owner here in Visalia. Mobil’s logo at the time was the Pegasus symbol. Well, Dana, in honor of his grandfather incorporated a very small Pegasus in one of the medallions. What a great creative touch Dana! Exeter has their hidden images in their murals, now Visalia has a hidden image in one of its medallions. For those of you who haven’t seen them, go by and take a look and find Pegasus. They are beauties! By the way, after the medallions were mounted, I asked Dana what he was feeling when he first saw them mounted. “It was one of those ‘pinch me moments,’” he said. He added, “Who knows, one day these pictures might end up in the Visalia Community Bank’s historic calendar, when present becomes past.”

Bomb Shelter Away!

The Cold War era was an intense time for our nation and our community. The big fear of course was that the old Soviet Union would launch missiles with nuclear war heads and civilization as we know it would end. To some, a safeguard was to build a bomb shelter. Recently, these photographs came to me from an HH member with impeccable credibility. He said that these photos that he took recently show what’s left of a bomb shelter right here in Visalia. These photos were taken as the house was being demolished. Amazing images! Looking at them, I’m not sure which would have been worse—dying of radiation poisoning from an atomic bomb explosion or dying from claustrophobia while hunkered down in these underground concrete crypts. I have heard there are/were a number of these bomb shelters during the cold war era here in Visalia, but up until now, I haven’t seen any evidence. Here it is. By the way, during the Cold War in the 1960s, the Mill Creek channel, which runs under the city was also being considered as a potential bomb shelter site. Never did hear details of the plan or how authorities would handle the water flowing through the channel.

Stable Becomes Catholic Church

Recently, Bill Allen made me aware of some creative work done by a couple of Visalia architects, Jack Hayslett and David L. Smith. In 1861 Father Daniel Francis Dade, opened up the first Visalia Catholic church and school in a stable. Jack researched the description of the stable building and passed on the information to his fellow architect, David Smith. David who happens to be an artist also, created a virtual rendering of what the stable parish might have looked like. By the way, these pictures were included in a power point presentation to the St. Mary’s 150^th anniversary committee. Nice touch, David and Jack. Thanks for doing great work!

Early Vet Was Active

It all started with the HH article about Visalia Police Officer Floyd Depew. Tom Rey, an HH follower, told me after reading the article that his grandfather, Dr. George S. Rey, DVM (called Poppy by Tom) knew Floyd (called Pappy by me and many others.) So Poppy was friends with Pappy. A story started to materialize about his grandfather whose veterinarian practice started in Visalia about 1911. At the same time Dr. Rey was appointed Livestock inspector by Tulare County. He retired as a vet in about 1948 after 40 years as a veterinarian. The animal doctor was also a Captain with the Tulare County Sheriff’s Posse. Thanks Tom for sharing the material on your grandfather. By the way, Tom is a retired San Diego PD detective ( 30 years on the force ) and lives down there, but still has an interest in Visalia history. Thanks Tom for sharing this with us.

Sweet Ave

Sometimes it is extremely difficult to know the precise basis for the naming of a street. Was it named for a specific member of a family or was it named for the family in general? Sweet Ave falls into this category. Was it named for Solomon Sweet, who came to Visalia in 1857 or was it named for his son, Adolph Sweet, or was it named for Sol Sweet, the early Visalia aviator, or was it named for Sol’s wife Ardeen? The record is vague on this point, but it is very clear that Sweet Ave was named because of this pioneer Visalia family.

***Last month I wrote an article in the Valley Voice Newspaper about Buffalo Bill Cody visiting Visalia in 1910. Here is the link if you missed it in the Valley Voice: http://www.valleyvoicenewspaper.com/fourcreeks/2011/fourcreeks020311_0839.htm Justin Mosley of Bothof’s Bakery, read the article and mentioned that he had documents to prove that William “Buffalo Bill” Cody was his Great great great uncle. Very interesting! Also, Frank Walker mentioned that he is also related to Buffalo Bill on his father’s side.

***Recently, I heard from Louie Avila, a former Tulare County resident who now lives in Cincinnati, Ohio,. He joined in the discussion about the pronunciation of Visalia. He lives not too far from Visalia, Kentucky and tells me that the local folks around there pronounce the town ViZalia—so the pronunciation mystery continues

***Chuck Loffland shared that he read a book called “Little Known Tales in California History” written by Alton Pryor. One of the stories mentioned included the statement “the slow-plodding camels took the struggling crew over the Sierra to Visalia.” Anyone know any details of camels coming here in around 1860?

***Commenting on the 1955-56 flood logjam, Joseph Vicenti passed along that he had heard that the log that was pulled from the Mill Creek channel actually became part of lawn decoration somewhere on Burke Street. Can anyone help with confirming this story?

***Barbara Armo, who has some great memories of early Visalia, tells me as she was growing up in Visalia she lived in a house on the site of the Vintage Press restaurant. Her address was 520 W Center and her folks were Jack and Lillie Armo. The house was later moved. Anyone know where?

***Tony Cornett reminded me of something I’d heard about but could never verify. He said that pigeons in downtown in the 1960s were such a nuisance, that the city contracted with a pigeon trapper who caught and relocated them. Can anyone verify? Who was this fearless trapper? Don’t tell me it was trapper John!

***Ed Stewart also commented on the 1955-56 flood and said he had heard a ditch tender had removed the channel grate before the flood because it was always filling up with debris. It was too much work to always clean the grate. As a result of that removal, the huge log was able to flow under the city.

***Donna Robinson shared that Bob Hope also came to the Visalia Convention Center in 1979 as part of a fundraising campaign. She attended the event and recalled that the comedian spent most of time reclining on a couch rather than standing.

“The Visalia high school rugby team was ingloriously defeated yesterday afternoon in the practice game at Porterville with the team from the Porterville high school. The final score was 24 to 0. The Visalia boys proved a pitiful failure when it came to being in that class with the Porterville lads.” Daily Morning Delta, November 6, 1910.

2011-01-26T13:57:00.000-08:00

Well the James Hitchcock run has been broken. This time, Art Browning was the first to get the last mystery spot correct. The little skylight structure is on top of the old Palace Hotel building on the northeast corner of Court and Main streets. It is currently owned and appreciated by William Martin. Oh, by the way and not a big surprise, William got it right, too.

The next mystery spot is much easier. Here are the clues:

1) The building was once the home to one of the biggest, if not the biggest department store in Tulare County

2) The family that owned the building was also connected to a famous local pioneer aviator

3) As ____________as candy

4) On this building site, the famous Fashion Saloon stood in the 1860s

Good luck.

Giddings Street

C.J. Giddings was born in Ohio in 1843, came to California at the age of 26 and in 1876 he arrived in Visalia. He was a businessman but is probably most well-known as a banker and eventually became President of the Bank of Visalia. He died in 1928 and is buried in the Visalia Cemetery. It is his name that is on one of Visalia’s most traveled streets.

Officer Floyd Depew – A Special Man

Recently Bea Moring passed along a story about one of the Visalia Police Department’s most well-known and legendary officers. He was Floyd Depew. I had the pleasure to know and work with Floyd or “Pappy” as we called him. He started fulltime with the Visalia Police Department in 1937 and in his later years worked parking enforcement. Bea fondly remembered him and said, “Some 50 years ago, I was shopping downtown with my two small children. Upon returning to my car I found that my parking meter had expired and Mr. Depew was there ready to write a ticket—until he saw I was carrying two shoe boxes with new shoes for my children. He then smiled and said, ‘You’ve just bought new shoes for your kids, you don’t need a parking ticket,’ and walked away. He must have been a special guy from all the things I’ve heard about him over the years," she added. He retired from VPD in 1974 and has passed on.

Soldiers Head Down to the Border

Recently, I was discussing the classic photograph showing soldiers seated on the steps of the old Tulare County Courthouse. The photo is oftentimes connected to World War I, but in fact, it was taken just before Visalia’s Co. D 2^nd Infantry Regiment of the California National Guard unit was ordered to the Mexican border in 1916. The photo quality is so good that many Visalians can be identified. Really a nice old photo. Marian Shippey Cote supplied this one.

Bob Hope and Bing Crosby Play Visalia

In the last HH posting, Marian Shippey Cote passed along that she had heard the Bob Hope and Bing Crosby had been at Sequoia Field during World War II. I still cannot verify this, but we can now confirm that the two were in Visalia at the Visalia Golf Club (now Visalia Country Club) on April 12, 1942 for a fundraiser. I can say this thanks to a recent contact I had with Pete Sweeney. He indicated that he actually saw them here. Hope and Crosby and others came as part of a fundraising effort for the American Red Cross. Pete was 11 years old at the time and was a big fan of the radio celebrity Bob Hope, so when he heard Bob was going to be here, he paid the 50 cent admission fee to get into the small clubhouse. He got Bob’s autograph and someone said to him, “Why don’t you get his too,” and pointed to Bing Crosby. He did, but at the time, he had no clue who Bing Crosby was. Pete is shown here with his wife Shirley, and he is holding his precious autographed keepsake. Thanks Pete for sharing your story. Now we still need to see if the celebrities paid a visit to Sequoia Field at the same time. Regarding the Hope and Crosby visit, George Reece also shared his story about the celebrities and their visit. He said, “They came [to Visalia] on a War Bond drive. Prior to the show that they put on at the airport (which I attended), they played a round of golf. I was a caddy at that time, so when they played, several of us got to tag along. Julian Phillipe was one of their caddies. Their banter on the course was as entertaining as the show. Thanks to Pete and George for sharing their remembrances, and by the way, happy 60^th wedding anniversary to George and Colleen Reece.

End of the Trail – The Story Never Gets Old

Madaline McKillip, brother to Visalia newspaper publisher John Brackett, wrote that her brother was a big advocate for getting the original End of the Trail statue to the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. He included a lot about the famous statue in the newspaper. Eventually a deal was made to get the classic original piece of Fraser art to Oklahoma City. We now have a replica as part of that deal at Mooney Grove Park. Tulare County’s End of the Trail story never gets old. For many years, Mooney Grove Park was home to this famous artist’s signature piece —the End of the Trail. And if you ever visit Oklahoma City, stop by the museum and see the original; the restored statue will take your breath away. This photograph shows the End of the Trail statue in San Francisco at the Pan Pacific Expo in 1915. This one was at Mooney Grove Park before it made it to its new home in Oklahoma City.

***On February 12, a John Muir impersonator (Frank Helling) will be at the Arts Visalia as part of the annual sofa art show. It is a free show and for more information you can contact Caroline Koontz with the Arts Consortium at 713-4324 or email her at ckoontz@ci.visalia.ca.us. By the way, John Muir came to Visalia in 1901 and talked about the Giant Sequoias.

***An HH read asked if anyone has any recollection of a bar just east of Visalia on Road 156 called “The Blood Bucket.” Get this, the story goes that “the bar had a history of someone’s head being cut off while the person was running thru the front saloon type doors and their body kept going for a little distance until they dropped dead.” Any of this sound familiar to anyone? Anybody out there ever heard of “The Blood Bucket” or can anyone add to this Tulare County version of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”?

***Lots of comments came in about the 1955-56 flood story in the last HH. Duane Copley, son of Mayor John Copley at the time, recalls visiting the problem areas on Mill Creek during the blockage. He described the scene as he saw holes being dug to find the blockage. He said the debris kept moving downstream and became a moving target. He said finally workers dug a hole at Court and Center streets, dropped iron rails into the channel to form a grate. The log eventual collected on the grate and workers were able to pull it out.

***Several of you knew Visalia soldiers killed in Vietnam. I included a website listing them in the last HH. I was told that long term Visalian Sergeant Richard Allen White was also killed, but is listed as being from Monterey. He probably was drafted or enlisted from there.

***Jan Morrison really enjoyed Mid Town Lanes when she was a youngster. Her family spent a lot of time there and she remembers the bowling leagues and climbing on the pinsetter machines when her uncle Arthur “Art” Pendola worked there. Jan has wonderful memories of the old bowling alley.

***Eleanor Bergthold was thumbing through some old Visalia newspaper files and came across some old quotes. Here’s a cute one from 1878: “Mosquitoes are holding nightly concerts to crowded houses along Mill Creek. They are so numerous that the sun’s rays never seem to reach earth.” I don’t love mosquitoes, but I sure do love the words crafted by early writers!

“The Chinese New Year commences Thursday Evening. The popping of fire crackers during the past few days is only preliminary to the pandemonium that will commence Friday in real earnest.” Daily Morning Delta, January 23, 1895

2011-01-08T12:53:00.000-08:00

Unbelievable! James Hitchcock has done it again. Number 5 in a row – he was the first to correctly identify the mystery spot feature as part of the old Bank of Italy (Bank of America) building which now houses the Bank of the Sierra. Does James know his architecture or what?

Are you ready for the next one? Here are the clues:

1) It is a little skylight rooftop structure on top of a building (sorry it is a little blurry)

2) It sets atop probably the oldest commercial building in Visalia

3) When the building opened, the governor of the State of California was there for the dedication

4) The feature can only be viewed from a block or more away.

What building is this? Good luck.

Whitendale Ave

I was talking with Louis Whitendale the other day and I asked him about the street name of Whitendale. He said that Ida Whitendale owned the 80-acre parcel near what is now Whitendale and Court streets and she is the one the street was named after. By the way, the correct pronunciation of Whitendale is: White-n-dale not Whitt-n-dale. For many years I pronounced it wrong and I know others have too.

Speaking of Water—Amazing Log Jam

All the recent rains have brought back memories of Visalia’s flood history, especially the flood that occurred in 1955-56. One of the hazards of having a creek flowing under our city, is that occasionally a plumbing problem develops. This happened in January 1956, before Terminus Dam was in place. December had brought lots of rain and the waterways in and around Visalia overflowed their banks. And the following month, more rain came and Mill Creek, the waterway that flows for a third mile below downtown Visalia, overflowed again. This time, somehow a very large log about 3’ in diameter and about 12-14’ long got wedged in the Mill Creek channel at the intersection of Center and Court streets. The log clogged the below surface channel, causing water to gush up at points throughout town. Once the clog was found, a hole had to be dug through the street to the channel and a crane was used to remove the huge log. How a log of that size was able to flow that far in Mill Creek is still a mystery.

Visalia’s Fallen Heroes in the Vietnam War

Sophie Britten recently sent me an internet link that identifies the American casualties in the Vietnam conflict and many of the soldier’s named have their pictures and biographical information included. The site Virtual Wall lists these Visalians as killed during that war: SP4 Danny David Dye, SSG James Louis Keller, CWO Phillip Sherman Mohnike, SP4 Lawrence Robert Warf, PFC Reynaldo B. Florez, Sgt Lour Le Desma, CPL Michael Mallory Montgomery, SGT Floyd Daniel Wimer, Pvt Charles Denny Hight, SGT Roger Gordon Leadbetter, CWO James Mitchell Stever, SGT Alonzo Dale Woods. And you can check on soldiers killed from other cities throughout the country as well. Go to the webpage at http://www.virtualwall.org/iStates.htm

and first click on a state. When it opens, scroll down to the city and the names will appear. Then click on their names. It should show you a picture of the person, or at minimum, their bio and medals. A very sobering site, but worth the visit. By the way, did any of you know any of the Visalia soldiers killed? Thanks, Sophie for providing this to us.

Annie’s Rose

In the last HH, I highlighted a 1969 Visalia Times Delta article written by J. C. Hickman on Annie R. Mitchell, well-respected historian for Tulare County. After it appeared, J.C. contacted me and said he remembered the interview. He shared a comment she made when people would say to her, “those were the good old days,” she would respond back with “yes, but thank goodness they are not coming back.” A number of you responded with memories of Annie Mitchell after that posting and one came from Eleanor Moore Bergthold, the daughter of Ralph Moore. Ralph was a well-known miniature rose expert and was recognized for his amazing breeding of miniature roses. Ralph was born in 1907 and Annie was born in 1906 and they became friends. In 1996, Ralph Moore bred a special miniature rose in honor of Annie. The rose was called Annie R. Mitchell and was a soft creamy yellow colored miniature. It was featured in one of his catalogs. In 1996, he had a ceremony at his Sequoia Nursery and honored Annie with that special rose. Annie died in 2007 and Ralph in 2009. Thanks Eleanor for reminding us of your father’s tribute to Annie. By the way, Mary Hill was honored with a specially developed rose as well.

Visalia Electric Featured at the Tulare County Museum

Recently, a scale model replica of the Visalia Electric Railroad was set up at the Tulare County Museum complete with working model train, buildings and land features. The train travels the route of the Visalia Electric Railroad on a track which passes by a number of landmarks and cities on its journey. Several railroad model historians worked on this for a long time and just recently got it set up at the museum for people to enjoy. You may have read about it in the Valley Voice newspaper. Louis Whitendale, shown here, and Doc Humason and others were responsible for this labor of love. It’s well worth a trip out to the museum to see.

***The request I made for information on the Happy Go Lucky Dance Hall brought in many responses. It was quite a social spot in Tulare and was located near what is now Mooney Blvd and Tulare. Building is gone now. Thanks to all of you who shared on this one.

***The inquiry from Monty Sands on the metal tower west of town brought in lots of possible answers, but no luck on identification.

**Marian Shippey Cote corrected one thing I said in the last HH about the bowling alley. Mid-Town Lanes on Acequia continued to operate for a short time along with the bowling alley on Mooney Blvd. (where the Goodwill store is now.) Mid-Town Lanes was later demolished to make a parking lot behind what is now Midtown News on Acequia.

***James Hughes describes himself as “historic retail [architecture] junky.” He is very interested in how the retail buildings have changed over the years, especially the Sweet building (where Links Clothing store is now.) Quite a change there over the years.

**Marian Shippey Cote recently learned that Bob Hope and Bing Crosby visited Sequoia Field during World War II. I don’t believe I’d ever heard that before and I would be interested to know if anyone else had any knowledge of these two great entertainers coming to this area?

“Uncut wood and old clothing is now a pressing need of the Central Welfare Council, and the officers are making an appeal to the public to furnish the supplies. Uncut wood is needed to reestablish the woodpile in the yard at the city hall, where transients and others may work a few hours chopping wood in return for meals, food or clothing.” Visalia Times Delta, November 16, 1933.

2010-12-17T19:28:00.000-08:00

Wow, it’s four in a row for James Hitchcock. He sure knows his architecture. Congratulations again James! The last mystery spot he identified was the Jordan Building built by John F. Jordan in about 1888. Thanks for all of you who gave it that good ole college try.

Now for the new one. Where is this building? Here are your clues:

1) The building officially opened in 1923

2) Building was built for $300,000

3) The numbers in the address add up to 11

4) It sets on a corner

Good luck.

Houston Ave

Houston Ave was named for the pioneer Houston family. James Houston came to Visalia about 1860. While here, he and his wife, Frances, had 11 children and reportedly, James was a second cousin to Sam Houston of the “lone star state.”

Annie R. Mitchell – A Nice Reminder

Recently Russ Dahler shared a portion of an old Visalia Times Delta newspaper dated April 15, 1969 in which the reporter at the time, J. C. Hickman (who by the way is a follower of HH), wrote a full page article about local history with an emphasis on Annie R. Mitchell and her contributions. Annie did so much to help us understand and appreciate Visalia's past. Born in 1906 in the now Tulare County ghost town of Tailholt or White River, Annie gave her first local history presentation in 1933. So many people knew her and respected her. In 2000 this Tulare County native, who generously shared so much with us, passed away. J.C. do you remember this full page story and your interview with her? It must have been a memorable conversation. Thanks for doing it and thanks also to Russ for this old reminder of a great lady.

Mid Town Lanes – Bowling on Acequia

Recently, Marian Shippey Cote received some old slides from former Visalian Lloyd Ellis. In the group of slides was a series of Mid Town Lanes bowling alley photographs. Mid Town Lanes was here in 1950s and was located on Acequia just west of where Mid Town News is now. (The corner of Church and Acequia.) This 1959 photo shows what appears to be a remodel/upgrade project in progress. On the forklift is what I believe to be a new pin setter. The bowling alley/building is gone today; it moved from here to Mooney Blvd. By the way, notice the green parking meter just to the rear of the forklift. Thanks, Lloyd and Marian for sharing.

Fort Visalia, Can You Dig It?

Well, the Fort Visalia story is really out there now. Lots of buzz! The city now owns the site of the birthplace of Visalia. What will happen at this site? What ideas do you have? A fully re-created fort? Only a segment of the fort re-created? A kiosk with an artist rendering of the fort in a courtyard area? Let's hear your ideas and let the creative juices flow. By the way, I think some serious archeology might be in order for the site. This would help us understand how the earlier settlers lived their lives. Are there any archeologists out there? Any of you know an archeologist?

San Francisco & San Joaquin Valley Railroad Arrives – Souvenir Survives

In 1897 Visalia cheered at the arrival of a new railroad that came into town; a railroad that was going to provide competition to the oftentimes hated Southern Pacific. With a competitive RR, lower rates for both travel and for freight were in store. When the train arrived for the first time in 1897, the biggest crowd ever assembled in Visalia’s history was there to greet it. Many of those in attendance were wearing souvenir pins like this one. Recently, a man found this one while going through his grandfather’s belongings. It’s a great old example of how important this event was to Visalia. By the way, the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad soon became the Santa Fe Railroad. As a result, East Street was later changed to Santa Fe Avenue.

Good Old Days -- Willie Greenlaw

Dana Lubich shared this want ad that he found in the current issue (Nov-Dec 2010) of Good Old Days magazine, a magazine with national circulation. Anyone know anything about this baseball player named William “Willie” K. Greenlaw? According to the ad he played minor league baseball in Visalia in 1958. Good eye Dana, now let's see if we can solve this one.

***Recently I received the biography on Florence Faria, the lady who owned the Visalia sweater that was mentioned in the previous HH posting. She was a long term Visalia area resident and I have a fairly complete history on her. If you’re at all interested in knowing more about her, let me know.

***Recently I heard from an old friend, Tony Cornett, who shared many of his early Visalia memories with me. One that especially caught my attention was about Visalia police officer Floyd Depew. Tony first met Floyd as a small child and sadly was on the ambulance that took Floyd to the hospital before he died. Thanks Tony for sharing.

***I recently received an email from Monty Sands who asked about a metal tower that he remembers in the 1940s or early 1950s on Hwy 198. He said in part, “I was just a young boy. The metal tower was east of the airport on the same side of the road.” He said it was there for years. He was just curious if anyone new anything about the tower; he thinks it could have had an advertisement for the gas company on it. Any help would be appreciated.

***In the last HH issue, an old segment of the old freeway 99 was shown and one of readers inquired about the pipe that seemed to stand out near the old roadway. What could that pipe have been used for? Any ideas? A little bit of a mystery here.

***Virginia Strawser is the current chair of the Historic Preservation Advisory Committee for the City of Visalia. They have several vacancies on the committee so anyone interested in historic preservation issues should contact the City of Visalia via their website or contact me and I will connect you with Virginia so she can answer any questions. Looks like a good opportunity here.

***Recently I was contacted by someone who found HH on the internet and she asked about a stable involving her father William Bowen. I was able to find the stable he owned. It was the Palace Stable across the street from where the Fox Theatre is now. The stable would have been there in the late 1800s and early 1900s. She was thrilled to get the information and a photo.

***A few issues ago, I mentioned the Happy Go Lucky Dance Hall in connection with other dance halls in the Visalia area. I have since received an inquiry specifically about the Happy Go Lucky, so if anyone knows anything about it, like location or anything else pertaining to it, I would appreciate the information.

“The Visalia Silver Cornet Band gave the town a serenade on Friday , much to the pleasure of citizens in general. The band has made marked improvement in the few short months it has been organized, and is deserving of much praise. The several pieces played were mastered thoroughly and would be a credit to any band. We congratulate the boys upon their success." Visalia’s Tulare Times, April 14, 1877.

2010-11-13T19:16:00.001-08:00

Wow, James Hitchcock has done it again. For the 3^rd time in a row he has been the first one to identify the Mystery Spot. This time he correctly identified the Dudley House on the northwest corner of Main and Giddings. This beautifully restored home is now a business office. Benjamin and Helen Dudley built this beautiful structure in about 1915. Amazing house and amazing work, James—congratulations!

Now for the new one. Where is this building? Here are your clues:

The building was built in or before 1888
It was built to be an “abstract” company
Originally it was called the Jordan Building
The vault in this building has been converted to a wine cellar

Good luck.

Burke Street

James M. Burke, born in Placer County, California in 1879, came to Tulare County and served as a Tulare County Deputy District Attorney from 1911 through 1919. He was also in private practice and was on the Visalia City Council for a number of years. Burke was well respected and was involved in many civic activities and played a leading role in the creation of Central Valley [Water] Project. He died in 1940 and a Visalia street is named in his honor.

The Habit Moves Forward with Mearle’s
Things seem to be moving along with The Habit’s plan to open their restaurant in the 1940s Mearles’ building. A meeting was held recently with “The Habit” executives and they seem excited. They chose the site because of its amazing history and plan to incorporate and honor as much of it as they can. It’s just another great example of how historic buildings attract positive attention and become the reason businesses are attracted to them. Enlightened businesses recognize that history sells! The new restaurant will not be Mearle’s but it will be a new chapter in the life of this 70-year landmark building.

Remnants of the Golden State Highway Found

Sometime back, Dana Lubich shared a discovery he made. After looking at an old airport photograph showing part of Hwy 99, Dana got an itch to go exploring. He looked at satellite images of the area and walked the airport/Hwy 99 area and guess what, he found remnants of the old Golden State Highway or what we now call Freeway 99. Shown here is a fairly recent satellite image of the Caldwell overpass at Hwy 99 and it was near there he found small sections of the old concrete roadway. By the way, I don’t recommend exploring freeway areas as they can be dangerous. Dana is a a very talented history detective and his discovery is very interesting. Exactly how far back these old concrete remnants date is unclear, but we know that pavement, not concrete was used on the roadways in the 1920s thru at least the 1930s. Thanks for sharing, Dana.

Have you ever wondered why the railroad tracks coming into Visalia from the west have a dramatic curve near Recreation Park/Rawhide Stadium? They didn’t always. When the first train depot was established in Visalia in the 1870s near the stadium, the tracks were straight and ended at the depot. When the depot moved to Oak and Church streets (Depot Restaurant site) in the 1890s, the tracks had to be extended. In order to lay the tracks to the new depot, with an Oak Street alignment, an “S” curve was necessary. This photograph, looking west, shows a part of that curve at Oak and Johnson streets.

69-Year Old Visalia Sweater Surfaces

Recently, I was contacted by a man who lives in Fresno and he shared an interesting piece of Visalia history. It is a dark green Visalia High School girl’s sweater with a “V41” patch on it. It is absolutely gorgeous in design and condition. It belonged to Florence Faria, who was a relative of the Fresno man’s wife and Florence attended school here. Anyone out there know her? According to the label it was sold at Schwabs in Visalia, but I can’t find any information on Schwabs. Does that sound familiar to anyone? Notice also the little metal pin on the pocket that says “Fight Infantile Paralysis” which is more commonly called Polio. Really amazing piece of Visalia history!

Ideas Needed for Fort Visalia Block

As was mentioned in a previous HH, the City is in escrow on the old site of Fort Visalia—a place recognized really as the beginning of the town. Ideas have been circulating about how best to commemorate the landmark site. Should we re-create the fort, re-create part of the fort, or do something else to recognize the birthplace of the city. If you have any ideas please share those with me and I will make sure they get to the appropriate people. Susan Mangini, and architect Michael Kreps are working on some ideas as well. No pictures exist of the old 1852-53 fort, but we have a word description and based on that, here is a rendering of the fort prepared by Dave Smith. We have a real opportunity here so let the ideas flow!

***Bill Allen asked recently about 2 black lava rock houses (both in the shape of a conical beehive) that reportedly were on the outskirts of Visalia. Someone mentioned them to him, but we don’t know anything about them, including location. Anyone ever heard of them?

***Claudia Allred Ward is on the hunt for the builder of the “McSwain Mansion”---the beautiful house on the southwest corner of Court and Tulare avenues. The house is now a dentist’s office but was made famous by Dr. Thomas O. McSwain an early occupant. Dr. McSwain is the grandfather of Claudia and any help in trying to pin down builder or date of construction would be appreciated.

***More famous Visalia visitors are being added to the list. Karen Kirkpatrick recently added Bob Feller (famous baseball hall of famer). She also added Buddy Epson (actor). But clearly her favorites are Mike Lookinland and Christopher Knight. Both of these gentlemen are better known as Bobby and Peter Brady, stars of the old tv show “The Brady Bunch.”

***Some of you continue to try to identify the old Acme Beer delivery truck that was posted a few HH issues ago. I think Jay Belt has found the answer—a 1936 C-1 International.

***A number of you have visited San Antonio, Texas and have enjoyed their river walk. Couldn’t a segment of Visalia’s Mill Creek become a river walk? Jennifer Allen Gomez wonders about pedestrian and recreational trails along the exposed waterway!

“Tuesday morning, after a most refreshing rain during Monday night, clearing the atmosphere and washing the leaves of our majestic oaks, afforded a most beautiful view from the dome of our courthouse. We observed for several hours citizens gazing, stretching their optics towards the lofty peaks eastward, and level plain westward, toward Tulare Lake. The view that morning was grand and Professor Bienstadt would find it a profitable occupation to devote a morning and evening to observation, as it will realize him a rich scene of Tulare valley, not to be excelled anywhere in the state. The dome of our courthouse has become a favorite place of observation.” Visalia’s Tulare Times, June 2, 1887

2010-10-21T08:18:00.000-07:00

Congratulations go out to James Hitchcock for getting the latest Mystery Spot correct. The mystery photo was taken on the east side of the Jacob Building which is located on the southwest corner of Church and Main streets. (Visalia Coffee Co. is there no.) There are many granite features built into this building--a building built by Elias Jacob in 1894.

Here’s the new one. Where is this building? Here are your clues:

This building was built in the mission revival style.
The architect was Alvin J. Stern.
The building has a carriage house adjacent it.
It stood near the “smallest park in the world” for many years.

Good luck!

Murray Ave.

Murray Ave was once called North Street in the town’searly years and was the north boundary of the original Visalia townsite. The street name was changed to Murray in honor of Abram Hunter Murray, a pioneer born in 1827 in Missouri and

who came to Visalia in1852. He was one of the first settlers here and actually lived in the stockade that became known as Fort Visalia.

Rare Old Kern County Pioneer Photograph

Found in Visalia

A nice story of discovery came to light recently, a story that connects a long time Visalian’s grandfather with the Frazier Mine, and Frazier Mountain at Frazier Park, CA. Betty Treaster has long known that her grandfather (William Frazier) and his brother were the discoverers of the Frazier Mine in Southern Kern County. She found a photo of William recently and showed it to me. I contacted Bonnie Kane, a Kern County historian. She has written several books and is connected to the museum on the Ridge Route and I mentioned the photograph to her. She said she had historical information about William, but no photo. Betty allowed me to send her a copy of the photo and she was excited about adding it to the historic collection dealing with Frazier Park. It was a nice find and it just points out that there are are new discoveries lurking out there everywhere, waiting to be discovered. Thanks Betty for your discovery. Who knows what other secrets lie in old boxes of photographs, letters or documents!

House Becomes Insurance Office

Peter Cowper was going through some old family slides recently and came across this old “neighborhood parade” (December 1949)

slide with an image of himself in the wagon being pulled by his sister Judi. In the background is the house on the southeast corner of Tulare and Crow streets and was occupied at the time by the Lindsay family. The Lindsay house in the background still stands and is now the Allstate Insurance Co. Nice to see old homes saved and turned into offices. Thanks Peter and Judi for sharing your family pictures.

Mearle's Coming Back to Life?

Could it be true! After months of rumors and hushed conversation, could Mearle’s again be ready to open? The Valley Voice newspaper and Fresno Channel CBS47 recently scooped the Mearle’s story. The Habit Burger Grill has apparently worked out some agreement with the property owners of Mearle’s. It is not clear what the agreement involves yet, but I’m sure in the next days and weeks, details will follow. Pick up a copy of the latest Valley Voice or go online at http://www.valleyvoicenewspaper.com/ww.valleyvoicenewspaper.com/ To see Channel 47’s online story go to http://www.cbs47.tv/. Could be some exciting times a comin’!

Old Scrapbook Discovered

Recently while the Visalia Parks & Recreation Department was going thru their historic scrapbooks, they discovered one scrapbook unrelated to Parks & Recreation. They are not sure how it got in their collection but they would really like to get it back to its rightful owner. Lots of old photos of people inside, labeled with names like, Frank Burchett, Roxie Delia Burchett, Alice Burchett, Ethel Nichols, Lulu Burchette, Juck Nodine, Ernest Schmelzia, Mr. Webster and family and Ada Melvina Medlock. Please let me know if any of these names sound familiar as the Parks & Rec people would really like to return it to the original owner.

Mill Creek—Way Down Under

As you know, historic Mill Creek flows under downtown Visalia. The waterway is one ofthe reasons the town was founded.It provided much needed water to the settlers. Recently, I had an opportunity to accompany Patrick Barszcz and actually go in the subsurface channel where it drops under Santa Fe between Main and Center. How exciting it was to be there knowing that the creek had been covered for over a century. Mill Creek is a historical asset and cries out for creative ideas to capitalize on its unique qualities as a historic water feature. Anyone been to San Antonio's Riverwalk?

Fort Visalia Coming Back?

Well, the old Fort Visalia site (northeast corner of Garden and Oak) looks like it might become city property. If that happens, part of the block could become a commemorative or legacy site for the fort that once stood there in 1852-53. So now those with an interest in the past have an opportunity to offer creative ideas for at least part of that historic block. A Sutter Fort type replica? A portion of the fort built on the site? A nice plaque with a raised relief of the fort’s image? Start thinking about the possibilities and I know Susan Mangini would love to her some of your ideas. It has been a dream of hers for a long time to do something about that Fort Visalia site. Stay tuned!

Nice Photo Surfaces!

Recently, George Reece sent me this great old 1946 photo. It shows his father, Paul Reece in the middle between Visalia Police Chief Paul Finley on the left and Frank Bentzen who at the time was the Identification Officer for VPD on the right. In 1947, Bentzen became Visalia’s new police chief. Thanks George for sharing this nice old photo.

***In the last HH, Dennis Whistler asked for help in the identification of all the young ladies in a photograph he found in an old house. Shortly after HH was released, Dana Lubich’s mother, Patricia Morris, identified the unknown ladies in the photograph. The power of networking really paid off. Thanks Patricia for your eagle eye.

***Also in the last HH, a photograph of the celebrity, Aunt Jemima, was included when she visited Visalia. A number of you contacted me and mentioned other celebrities that had visited Visalia in the past and we had a lot of them. Bill Fuller mentioned Richard Nixon came here when he was running for California State Senator; Art Browning mentioned several, Gov. Pat Brown, Goodwyn Knight, Ricky Nelson, Ray Charles, Tom T. Hall, Johnny Rivers, The Platters, Coasters, The Drifters, Willie Nelson, Ben Johnson, and Tex Ritter.

***And again in the last HH a nice old photo of the Acme Beer delivery truck was included. A number of you took a stab at the year and make of the pickup truck and the guesses included 1937 International C-1, 1936 or ’37 Chevy, 1941 or ’42 International. So it appears to be anyone’s guess, but we got the idea.

***Justeson’s continues to be a topic of historical discussion. Several of you wrote about experiences at Justeson’s, but Rod Robinson shared, “I was too young to remember, but my father, Wayne Robinson, worked at Justeson’s with the fellow that founded Sheperd’s Market in Patterson Tract. My father left Justeson’s to go to work delivering milk to the ‘mom and pop’ stores in Tulare County for Knudsen’s Creamery. After that he went into partnership with Sleepy Sutton to form the S & R Market on Pine and Filbert in Exeter.”

"Wonder if all Visalians have noticed the view of the mountains from this city recently? We very much doubt whether any part of the country affords the sight of such a beautiful mountain range. The Sierra Nevadas of Tulare County are a delight both in winter and in summer. They are an asset which the county should prize highly.” Visalia Daily Times, January 18, 1913

2010-10-21T08:06:00.000-07:00

2010-09-19T19:21:00.000-07:00

Click on photo for larger image.
Thanks for visiting Historic Happenings! If you are not on the email list yet, 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 not share your email address with anyone without your permission.

Congratulations go out to James Hitchcock for correctly identifying the last mystery spot. This was a tough one and only a handful of you got it right. Thanks to all for trying. I also want to thank Peter Cowper for suggesting this interesting façade as a mystery spot. By the way, a short time after James correctly identified it, Jay Belt identified it also and sent a link which simply amazed me. If you'd like to see the link on Google Maps, let me know and I'll email it to you. It's quite interesting. Thanks Jay for pointing out that technology can be a helpful in all sorts of ways.

This façade was the building that housed Adeline Marie’s, a clothing store at 114 So Locust owned by Emma Martel. Thanks Duane Copley for remembering the name of business. At another time the building was either a part of Justeson’s Market or adjacent to it. When I mentioned Justeson’s, it elicited a reaction from several of you. Carole Mathewson remembered Justeson’s as a child and recalls proudly walking through the market with a box of animal crackers dangling by a string from her waist. Remember the little string on the box of animal crackers? Sometimes it’s the tiny little things we remember. Rita Loffland Cooley can remember exactly where the drinking fountain was in the back of the Justeson’s store.

Now for the next mystery spot. Where is this building? Here are the clues:
1) The granite used in this building came from the Rocky Point Granite Works.
2) The building was built in 1894.
3) Elias Jacob built the building.
4) The site at one time housed the Masonic Lodge.
Good luck to you.

Acme Beer Remembered
Ann Shaw recently shared with me a great old Visalia photo. It shows a man, Herbert Turner, standing by his Acme Beer delivery truck which was parked in front of the J. E. Frame Wholesale Liquor dealership. This is the same dealership that Ann’s father worked at delivering beer and she has fond memories of riding with him in his delivery truck. This liquor dealership was located on Murray Ave about where Glick’s Meat Market was for years. Nice one, Ann! Anyone know the make and year on this truck?

Linwood Street
In 1890 the acreage around what is now Linwood and 198 was undeveloped and still a huge oak forest covered in grass. One of Visalia’s prominent pioneers, Tipton Lindsey (no connection to either the town of Tipton or Lindsay) bought the land and two years later transformed it into a showcase fruit producing area. He called it Lindwood Colony or Linwood Colony, I’ve seen it both ways. Somehow when the street was named the "d" was dropped, but it is clearly connected to Tipton Lindsey's premier fruit growing region.

Do You Remember “Alice in Wonderland,” Rated X at the Fox?
Photographer James “Jim” Davis, now deceased, captured on film a rather rare scene and one that I have only read about. As you can see in this photo, the marquee says “Alice in Wonderland” X Rated. This movie was released in 1976 and is considered the last film that was shown at the Fox Theatre prior to its conversion to a tri-plex which was started in 1976. James Davis had lots of photographic experience in the Navy and I’m told he was a long-time employee of the Edison Company. Thanks to him, we have this historical Fox photo and thanks Peter Cowper for sharing it with us.

Mystery Photograph Found Tucked Away ---- Need Help On This One!
Dennis Whistler, a Visalia architect and his associates, purchased a home at 904 W. Main Street, and converted it into their office. In the mid 1970s, Dennis found a small negative stuck behind a built-in buffet and he had it developed. Through investigative work, he has identified Nancy Iseman on the right who he said later married Leo Swanson. He identified Chris Akers, second from the right who later married Keith Devine. The others remain unknown and requests help from anyone who knows who they might be. He thinks the group might be from the class of 1949. Let me know and I’ll pass it along to Dennis.

Remember These Old Auto Symbols?
Russ Dahler shared this old photograph with us. It shows the advertising logos on the building that at one time was the Claude Allred Dealership at the corner of Bridge and Main streets in Visalia. Later Arnold Wiebe occupied the building and it was when the Wiebe dealership was there that the old ad logos were uncovered on the backside of the building. This building was demolished to make way for the multiplex Regal Theater that is there now. The old Larson Hotel can be seen in the background on the right hand side of the photo and of course it is now gone, too. There is something very nostalgic about these old automobile logos, don’t you think? By the way this photo is dated on the back, November 1988.

Pancakes Anyone -- A Celebrity Comes to Visalia
Betty Treaster shared something interesting with me a couple of weeks ago. She and her husband Lyman, now deceased, belonged to Visalia’s Sequoia Lions Club and she remembered when Aunt Jemima came to the club for “Pancake Day.” The Quaker Oats Co. would send Aunt Jemima out to promote their products and this photo dated December 1, 1955, indicates she had come to Visalia. It was taken at the Orchid Room in the old Moose Club and this picture shows Aunt Jemima and Lyman Treaster. Anyone know anything about this visit or any other celebrities that paid Visalia visit?

***Success! The Star Laundry explosion information made it to the right person. Pat Hanson’s grandmother was injured in that explosion and was listed in the newspaper articles at the time.

***Rosie Longan wanted me to pass along this important information. The Sequoia Genealogical Society is in its new beautiful home in the new Tulare Library. It is located at 475 No. “M” Street, telephone 685-2342; hours of operation are 11:00am to 3:00pm Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Wednesday’s from 3:00pm to 7:00pm.

***Regarding John Brackett, Jan Andrews his daughter said, "Dad worked for the Times Delta before it was acquired by Gannett. I believe the sale occurred a year after he retired. Dad worked for Bob Speidel from 1948 to approximately 1966. Ed Quilla succeeded Bob Speidel as publisher and was transferred to Poughkeepsie, New York after a year or so and then dad was named publisher."

“Dance Music – That Will Make the Sap Run in a Wooden Leg.” Part of an advertisement for Visalia’s Sierra Park, Visalia Morning Delta, July 13, 1926.

2010-08-22T20:39:00.000-07:00

Click on photo for larger image

He’s back! Yes, Randy Groom was the first again to get the MS location correct. The granite feature is one of several that surround the old courthouse square which is bounded by Court, Oak, Church and Center streets. There are a number of these and they were all quarried at the Rock Point Granite Works near Exeter.

Ok, here is the next MS. This one is a little bit harder, I think. Where is this building? Here are the clues:
1) This building’s façade was part of, or adjacent to, the Justeson Store.
2) It’s on the east side of a north/south street
3) It is across the street from a building that once was an “abstract” company.
4) It is near a street that’s name means ditch or waterway.
Good luck.

The Star Laundry—An Explosive Story
About a year or so ago, an HH reader contacted me asking for information about the Star Laundry fire. I thought at the time I had some material on it, but I couldn’t find it and I have been on the hunt ever since. Well guess what? I think I’ve found it, but it was not a fire, but instead a devastating explosion. This information came to me quite by accident when I was talking to Erin Hayden who happened to have an article about the explosion. It happened in 1926 and several people were burned very badly. For the life of me, I can’t remember now who asked, but let me know who you are and I’ll get more information to you.

Seegar Store Anyone?
In the last HH, the Shorty Check homicide was mentioned and several of you looked at the Traveler’s Hotel photograph that accompanied the posting. You noticed the Main Cigar Store was on the ground floor of the Traveler’s building on the northwest corner of Main and Garden streets. Frank Pineda remembers as a boy going to that Store and getting the coldest root beer in town, all for just a nickel. Earlier that cigar store was called Wood Cigar Store owned by W. H. Wood. Any good Wood Cigar Store stories? By the way, Art Browning believes that Lee Mitchell, historian Annie Mitchell’s brother, once owned the Main Cigar Store. Where’s the wooden Indian? Surely, Visalia had one!

Edwards Court
Clayton Edwards and Glenn J. Edwards owned Edwards Realty Co. and their office was at 108 No. Court Street, Visalia. These two businessmen, who I believe were brothers, were the subdividers in the 1940s of an area just east of Mooney Blvd. near Myrtle Ave. Their subdivision was known as Byfield Park. Edwards Court is a very short street off of Myrtle just east of Mooney Blvd. I don’t know for certain, but I suspect the little street was named for the family or the brothers who subdivided the area. By the way, the Edwards Investment Co. once owned the land on which the Mearle’s building sets.

John Brackett—A Legendary Newspaperman Gave Us Driftwood
There is a man in Visalia history who has not been fully recognized for his contribution to the collection and preservation of local history. His name is John Brackett. John Brackett came to Visalia in 1948 and assumed the position of managing editor of the Visalia Times Delta. In 1966 he not only was the managing editor, but he became the publisher as well. He was very active in the community and reportedly, “he almost won a seat on the Visalia City Council as a write-in candidate,” according to his obituary. While working with the Delta in 1956/57 he wrote a local column called Driftwood, a sort of “who’s who” of prominent local citizens of Visalia. He wrote about people such as Jack Chrisman, Charles Hammer, Jack Iseman, Tom Crow, the Huffakers, and many others. John’s children, Jan Andrews and her sisters, compiled all of his columns onto a cd. I can tell you after reading a sampling of them, they are a fascinating read. What a great collection of mid 1950s Visalia history. I remember some time back talking about John with his granddaughter Kate Gibson-Cates (Jan Andrews’ daughter). The family is proud of John and they have a right to be.

Local historians owe so much to people like John Bracket. Thanks to them we learn so much about our Visalia history. If you would like a copy of the cd, please let me know and I’ll make you a copy (after I get the family’s permission.) I’m thinking someone, somewhere out there should consider creating a booklet of these old Driftwood columns. By the way John Bracket retired from the Visalia Times Delta in 1974 and died in 2002. Thanks Jan for sharing an important part of his life.

Thomas O. McSwain—Visalia’s Well-Known Doc
Sherrill Clark has been very generous in sharing family history. Her in-laws, Gerald Isaac Clark and his wife Roberta McSwain Clark both had interesting families. The Clark side, I plan on sharing with you in a future HH, but the McSwain side is briefly included here. Roberta, Sherrill’s mother-in-law, was the daughter of Dr. Thomas Omar McSwain.

He was born in Wisconsin in 1862 and came to California about 1884. He studied medicine in San Francisco and graduated from medical school there about 1897. It was shortly after that he came to Visalia to practice. He married Mabel Wasson and lived in the “mansion” on the southwest corner of Court and Tulare streets. The house is still there, a real beauty, and is now being used as a dentist’s office. The house always looked like it belonged in the deep south to me..

Dr. McSwain practiced medicine in and around Visalia for over 25 years and died in 1933 in his home after a lengthy illness. The McSwain family and especially the practice of Dr. McSwain is a very interesting part of Visalia history. Reportedly, one of his responsibilities was to examine “ladies of the evening” to help control the spread of deceases in the community. I plan on doing an article about him soon in my “From Out of the Tules” column in Direct Magazine.

Thanks Sherrill for not forgetting about the McSwains. Claudia Allred Ward also a granddaughter of Dr. McSwain has shared some interesting family history with me, and she too is an HH reader.

Visalia’s “Moving” Theater
So many of you shared Visalia theater stories with me and helped solve the Bijou mystery. The mystery came about when the question was raised as to where the Bijou Theatre was located. Some said it was on E. Main Street on the north side of the street, others said E. Main St. on the south side. Well the mystery is solved. Everyone was correct. It was on the south side of the street near the site of the Visalia Theatre at one time, and it was on the north side of the street by the Hotel Johnson at an earlier time. In this 1945 flood photo, you can clearly see it on the north side of the street on E. Main next to the Hotel Johnson. Thanks to the many of you that helped with this one.

***Terry Akers shared an internet photo she found which is a very interesting old flood photo. I believe it was the Santa Fe Railroad track just outside of Visalia. You can see it at http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt2c6018zv/?layout=metadata&brand=calisphere

***Comments from readers of the Shorty Check story in the last HH newsletter, revealed that at least one of you was familiar with Shorty Check, the murder victim. “I remember Shorty Check very well, but I know nothing about his murder…he was a permanent fixture around town,” Art Browning said. Both Marian Shippey Cote and Frank Pineda remember the murder case, but deny being in the area and claim they have good alibis to their whereabouts. (Of course I’m just kidding.)

***I recently heard from John Poultney who is the west coast editor for Arcadia Publishing Co. Arcadia is the company that published the Visalia Then and Now book. John is looking for someone who would like to do a Visalia—Images of America photo book. If you would like more information on this opportunity, he can be emailed at jpoultney@arcadiapublishing.com or by calling him by phone at (650) 534-7109. This is quite an opportunity for someone. Think about it and consider contacting John.

***In the last HH I included a photo of the beautiful old Acequia Post Office as part of the Mystery Spot feature. It didn’t take long for several of you to comment about the old post office and this is what Barbara Hinds Joseph said, “I haven’t lived in Visalia since 1953. When I was little my family had a post office box so we were there often. My mother taught me how to make purchases there by letting me buy stamps. (Little did she know how proficient I would become later in life at making purchases!) I had to say ‘may I please have’…and ‘thank you.’ In those days postcards cost a penny and first class stamps were three cents. I also remember that during the war there was an Uncle Sam Wants You sign on the sidewalk out in front.

After mastering the post office, I was allowed to help my mother shop at Mixter’s Drugs. I have many memories of the wonderful old scale that was just inside the side door. Several years ago when my girlfriend (of 65 years standing now) and I were in town for a class reunion we went to Mixter’s and took our pictures with the scale.”

***Since the last HH so many interesting stories have come my way. Clearly more than I can include in just one issue, so stand by for subjects like Visalia saloons, the notorious Balcony’s Apartments, rediscovering old Highway 99, the 1910 Citrus Fair, and the local beginning of California Water Service, hobos, carnivals and circuses. All of these are stories that are pending for future HH postings, and keep sharing your thoughts and remembrances.

“The capacity of bermuda grass to grow is an old story. It will push its way between bricks in a sidewalk. There is a dead locust tree in the courthouse yard that is attracting considerable attention from the fact the bermuda grass has grown up the trunk and is now covered by the bark. The grass has obtained a height of 4’ above the ground and it can be seen in places where it has cracked the bark by its growth. There are tusts of it growing out of the
cracks of the bark.” Daily Morning Delta, December 3, 1892

2010-08-01T22:03:00.000-07:00

Click on photo for larger image.
Thanks for visiting Historic Happenings! If you are not on the email list yet, 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 not share your email address with anyone without your permission.

Congratulations go out to Virginia Strawser who correctly identified the Acequia Street post office as the last mystery spot. The cornerstone is right behind the newspaper racks. It’s interesting, so take a look. Over 25 of you correctly got the mystery spot correct. Good job everyone, especially to you Virginia for being the first.

Are you ready for another? Where is this historic feature in Visalia. Here are the clues:

1) This decorative granite feature is one of several nearby.
2) Minerva looked down on these for many years.
3) This particular one stood across the street from the old Farm Bureau of Tulare County building for many years, and in fact it still does.
4) Train whistles serenade this granite feature on a regular basis, and have for many years.
Good luck.

The Travelers Hotel - A Gruesome Scene of a Homicide
Recently retired Tulare County Superior Court Judge David Allen asked about Visalia’s old and long gone Traveler’s Hotel which was located on the northwest corner of Main and Garden streets. His interest in the hotel is because of its connection to the murder of Paul “Shorty” Check, that took place there. The gruesome crime that occurred in the early morning hours of September 23, 1955 is unsolved and the judge would like to see justice prevail. At the time of the homicide, Judge Allen remembers how unsettling and upset residents were. He hopes there is still a chance to solve this homicide case. In the meantime he is preparing an article summarizing the 55-year old crime. It will be published by the Tulare County Historical Society in their Los Tulares newsletter soon. Does anyone remember hearing about the Shorty Check murder? Anyone have any information that could lead to the killer? A true Visalia cold case!

Hobo Jungle – A Truly Wild Place
David Lacy asked about the large open area between Ben Maddox and Burke and Center and Murray streets. That is the area that has been identified, the last I heard, as being the location for a new city hall complex. David remembers the area being called the “Hobo Jungle” in the 1950s. Actually, at least a portion of that area has been considered “Hobo Jungle” or “The Jungle” for almost a 100 years that I’m aware of. This is part of what I on the jungle in my file:
I believe in the 1930s they had circuses set up on at least part of that site. It has been known as “the jungle” or “hobo jungle” or “the jungles” for a very long time. I have references that date back to 1914. Even then it was a homeless camp that oftentimes attracted crime and criminals. At least part of the reason for the “hobos” using the location was its proximity to the SP railroad tracks. It was a convenient location to get on and off the train as the tracks made the curve and the train had to slow down. A slower train was easier to board. Oak trees provided shade also. It has been mentioned a lot in the historical record.

David and I would sure enjoy hearing from you if you have any stories about this interesting place.

Santa Fe Street
The original east townsite boundary for Visalia was called East Street. Pretty clever, huh? The name was changed to Santa Fe after 1900 when the Santa Fe Railroad came to Visalia and used that street. With the recent opening of the S.F Railroad Highway 198 overpass to ordinary vehicles, Santa Fe Street has become a major north/south thoroughfare through town.

Before Lumber It Was Mattresses
James Hitchcock is wondering about the northern most building of the Visalia Lumber Co. located on Ben Maddox near Center. That north building has been part of the lumber yard for many years, but James thought it looked like it had been something before it was acquired by the lumberyard. When I went by, I noticed what James did about the building--an unusual appearance—especially the small section in front, as you can see in this contemporary photo. I stopped in and talked with some of the veteran employees there, and yes, the north building was a mattress company when it was purchased by the Visalia Lumber Co. A directory search confirmed the building was The Visalia Mattress Co.

More About Bob Morris’ Business Interests
Dana Lubich, grandson of Robert “Bob” Morris is looking for more material regarding his grandfather. Dana as you remember provided us with a photo and information on the Mobil Service Station at Mineral King and Mooney (where Marie Callender’s is now.) It is also the photo in which we included an audio recording of its grand opening. Dana’s grandfather also had a butane service in Visalia around the same time. It was located about where Rebel Lumber is today just east of Visalia and on the same side of the street he thought. There is a propane company now on the Southside of Hwy 198 again near Rebel, so if this is what use to be his grandfathers, how did it get on the south of 198? So, can any readers help determine the exact location of the Morris Butane Service?

***There is optimism in the air about Mearle’s. Could it be that the Mearle’s building could be getting its dignity back soon?

***Native Visalian Jane Nash doesn’t believe the old Grand Theater by the Hotel Johnson was ever named the Bijou. The only Bijou Theater in Visalia she recalls was the one on the south side of Main Street near what is now Las Palmas Restaurant. A couple of you and one document that I have indicates that the Bijou was at one time where the Grand was.

***I received an inquiry about the Johnson Hotel and its operators William and Annie Smith and there son James and daughter-in-law Marian. William operated the Johnson Hotel from about 1927 to 1937. Anybody know anything about the Smiths during their operation of the hotel?

A large group of Lions Club conventioneers “stopped at Visalia, a go-getter sort of town of about 7000 people. About dinner time when the boosters were getting hungry and Visalia was reached, they were ready for a good meal, which was awaiting them in the City Auditorium, which comfortably can take care of about 400 people at one sitting. Inviting guest rooms were in evidence while waiting for the last of the stragglers to appear. Cards or dancing, reading or lounging were possible right at hand. The party voted Visalia some town. And that vote caused us to admit a blush of shame, for do you, fellow citizens (of Sacramento) know of any place in Sacramento where 400 people could dine together, as was done in Visalia? We don’t. We wish we did.” From the Visalia Morning Delta, May 31, 1922 reporting on what the Sacramento Bee had written.

2010-07-12T11:05:00.000-07:00

Congratulations go out to Art Browning who was first to get the last mystery spot challenge correct. Located on the southeast corner of School and Court streets (506 No. Court St) the Christian Faith Fellowship Church sits on the site of the old Methodist-Episcopal Church South. It’s a beautiful old Visalia building. Good job, Art.

Now the new mystery spot. Where is this building? Here are the clues:
1) The building containing this cornerstone is art-deco in design.
2) It has a basement.
3) The business conducted here is important for our country’s commerce and personal networking.
4) The cornerstone ceremony included the Visalia Union High School Band.

The Ghosts of the Old Cinema
Monica Gutierrez recently asked me about the triplex theater that was located behind the Sequoia Mall. She called it Cinema 1-2-3. She said she grew up in Visalia, but is not living here now, and has heard ghost stories about the old cinema. She would like to know more about the stories. She said that the theater is referenced in a song called the Ghost of Bardsley Road and when she does internet searching for hauntings in Visalia, Cinema 1-2-3 comes up as being one of the haunted locations in Visalia. She says one of the “incidents” allegedly involved a boy being thrown off of a roof there and she wonders if there is any truth to that. So anyone with any stories about the haunting of Cinema 1-2-3 please share them. By the way if ghosts occupied the old theater, they are not occupying it now, as the building was demolished a few months ago. But do ghosts still occupy the site? Look for orbs in this photograph of the site.

Stage Robber Black Bart Last Seen in Visalia
An out of the area visitor to HH inquired about Charles E. Boles aka Black Bart and his connection to Visalia. This famous stagecoach robber started his crime spree in 1875 up in the mother lode country of California and focused his thefts on Wells Fargo strongboxes. He committed his last stagecoach robbery in 1883, was caught, convicted and began his 6-year term in San Quentin the same year. Justice was faster in those days. He was released on January 21, 1888 and his whereabouts after his release has been a mystery. It is said that in March of 1888 he was seen in Visalia at the Visalia House. No one seems to know where he went from here. Can anyone help out with this?

Main Street
When Visalia was first laid out, Mill Street was the major east/west thoroughfare through town. It was first called Mill Street named for the grist mill that was located at the east end of town, where Santa Fe and Main Street would be today. Mill Street gradually gave way to the name Main Street, but it wasn’t until November 17, 1890 that the official name became Main Street.

A Piece of Visalia in the Yukon
Nancy Barnes, received this picture from a friend who was RVing in Canada. This photo was taken in the town of Watson Lake in the Yukon. On the left hand side you’ll see a Visalia city limits sign among many other signs. Watson Lake’s “signpost forest” is quite a tourist spot. You’ll notice the sign for Visalia says population 30,600. In 1972 Visalia’s population was listed as exactly that, so I would assume the sign is from that era. Nancy tells us that the collection of signs started in 1942 during the construction of the Alaska-Canada highway and now there are about 67,000 signs at this popular and famous Watson Lake landmark. Nancy would like to know who placed the Visalia sign there. Good question! Does anyone know?

Old Electric Stove Found Stored for 60 Years!
Peter Cowper recently uncovered a family treasure that had been stored in the back of his garage since 1949. He believes it was shipped to Visalia in late 1948 probably from New York to his grandfather here. His grandfather’s home in Visalia did not have 220 electrical service, so it was never used. Peter is curious as to how old it might be. Can anyone help? By the way it’s a Roberts & Mander Model #336E labeled “Electric Quality Range.” Come on admit it, some of you used a stove much like this one!

St. Johns River—Named After an Early Judge
Recently, HH subscriber David Lacy, asked about how the St. Johns River got its name. It is actually named for an early pioneer named Loomis St. John. St. John was one of the first judges in the Tulare County Court of Sessions. The river took on this name early in our history. I have seen it listed as early as 1882 on a map and the river is almost always spelled without an apostrophe “s” (St. Johns rather than St. John’s). In early records it is sometimes referred to as the St. Johns Channel of the Kaweah River.

Dance Halls Were Popular Hangouts
Earldean Mayfield asked about some early dancehalls recently and mentioned a few that were very prominent in and around Visalia and really all of Tulare County. There was one called the Rocky Mountain Dancehall that was located about where the SPCA is now south of the airport. During the 1950s, these dancehalls and others were very popular hotspots with interesting names like The Pine Burr, Sierra Dancehall ( by the way this dancehall building is still standing near Bridge and Willow Sts in Visalia ), and Happy Go Lucky. Makes you wonder, 60 years later, what happened to them. They were such an important social outlet in their day. Pictured here is Print Stokes (far left) and his Rocky Mountain Cowboys. They were a very popular dancehall band.

***Back in May of this year, Kate Gibson-Cates mentioned that she received an old Mooney bottle from her grandmother who apparently recovered it during a demolition of a theater. At the time, I didn’t connect this demolition project, but in 1969 or so the old Grand Theater was demolished. It stood next to the Hotel Johnson on Main St. and in its early years it was known as the Bijou. Kate, could this have been the theater in which the old Mooney bottle was recovered?

*** Randy Groom, a name I’m sure you’re familiar with, is now the City Administrator of the City of Exeter. Unfortunately, for many of you, he will remain an HH subscriber and continue to be a formidable competitor in identifying future mystery spots. Congratulations Randy on your new career move and good luck.

***Robert, an HH reader, found an old monogrammed serving spoon (1880) with the initials T.O.M. He found it in the attic of the home he believes belonged to a Corolyn Mooney. He’d like to know if the initials T.O.M. might be initials to a Mooney family member. Anyone able to help Robert out on this? I checked with Bill Allen, local Mooney family biographer about this, and he was uncertain as to a Mooney family member with those initials.

“Visalia, the county seat has in the last few years showed a marked increase in business and extensive building has been done. That portion of the city south of Main street, a few years ago had but very few dwelling houses while at the present time it would be a hard matter to purchase a vacant lot.” Daily Visalia Delta, January 27, 1906

2010-06-13T20:14:00.000-07:00

Click on photo for larger image.

Thanks for visiting Historic Happenings! If you are not on the email list yet, 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 not share your email address with anyone without your permission.

Well, we have a new winner in our latest Mystery Spot. Steve Gerrard, a regular in the Mystery Spot feature, was the first to get the location correct. Good job Steve! Yes it is the Woman’s Club building on the southeast corner of Johnson and Center. Obviously, it was built in 1952.

Now for the new one – ready, set, go!
1) This feature is on a building that sits on a corner.
2) Sunday the building seems to be quite popular
3) It is about a block away from the old Tulare County Courthouse site.
4) Many seniors live nearby
Good Luck!

Local Stage Robber Leads Life of Crime
Parker Anderson recently refreshed my memory on a Visalia bad man who eventually found, no got justice in Colorado. His name was Allen Downen and he had a history of crime starting in 1873 with the robbery of a Visalia to Tulare stage. He was arrested, tried, and found guilty. Downen went to San Quentin State Prison but escaped. He later led a life of crime throughout the west including murder in Colorado and narrowly avoided capital punishment in that state. Parker mentioned that there is a biographical book about this outlaw called Star of Blood, but is hard to find, but he mentioned that the full text of the book can be found in within another book called “Silver Dollar Tabor: A Leaf in the Storm” by Evelyn Furman. Thanks Parker, for passing this along.

Visalia Blacksmith Leaves Town and Ends Up In, Well….
Recently, Shelly contacted me and indicated she is doing some genealogical work and is on the hunt for information on a Visalia blacksmith named Burlin Pierce. According to information it looks like he was a blacksmith in Visalia during the 1850s on what is now E. Main Street (which is at the far end of the street in this photo). Apparently he left Visalia about 1861 and was found in 1880 with his throat cut and his body at the bottom of a well in Clay City, Illinois. Shelly would appreciate any more information about his Visalia blacksmithing days.

Packwood Photo Surfaces
Some time back Dan Hogan shared a copy of a photograph he had of Elisha Packwood and his wife Paulina. I had not seen the photo before, so I was thrilled to get it. The Packwood name goes back to very early Tulare County. The Packwoods lived southeast of Visalia in the 1850s. The Butterfield Overland Stage changing station stop, located within just a few miles of Visalia, took the Packwood name. The exact location for Packwood Station has never been found. The Packwoods were a prominent family in Tulare County.
Dan has quite a bit of information about the family and is willing to share. Thanks Dan

***Alan George tells me that Visalia artist Sam Pena is working on a replacement statue that would be placed on the pedestal that now sets empty at the entrance to Mooney Grove Park. Now just the base remains where the old Pioneer once stood. Sure would be nice to see something occupy that site again.

***Paul Fry, manager of the Fox Theatre, and several Fox supporters have been working on balcony bathroom upgrades at the old theater. When they are finished with the upgrades it should “relieve” a lot of bathroom pressure in the future.

***Michael Lewis of http://www.screenradio.com/ here in Visalia shared a couple of old local newspapers. One was the Visalia Times Delta from 1969 and the headline read, “Moon—Small Step for Man…Giant Leap for Mankind.” The other a Tulare Advance Register newspaper from 1949 and it featured on the front page Tulare’s own Bob Mathias. A couple of good ones Michael, and thanks.

“A very dangerous practice is indulged in here—that of breaking wild mustangs in the streets, thereby endangering the lives of pedestrians, children, etc.” Visalia Delta, October 29, 1859