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Just in time for Christmas

A new historical railroad book is about to hit the stores, just in time for Christmas. Local train historian, John Bergman, has written The Southern San Joaquin Valley: A Railroad History. In it he outlines the history of the railroads between Bakersfield and Fresno and includes 250 photos. Visalia trains and railroads are included. John is offering a very good pre-publication price if you purchase before November 30, 2008. For questions or to purchase, contact John at JBergman@valleybusinessbank.net or at (559) 627-3291.


Speaking of books, there will be a local authors gathering at Costco coming up.
On Saturday, December 13, 2008 from 11:00am to 4:00pm at the Visalia Costco, the following authors will be present to sign and autograph their books:

John Bergman, The Southern San Joaquin Valley: A Railroad History
Chris Brewer, Official Historical Atlas Map of Tulare County
Ron Hughart, The Place Beyond the Dust Bowl
Jay O’Connell, Train Robber’s Daughter: The Melodramatic Life of Eva Evans
Robin Michael Roberts, Images of Hanford 1900-2000
William B. Secrest, Day of the Grizzly: The Tragic Story of the Mighty California Grizzly

Come by and pick up one or more of these books and get it autographed by the author—a great opportunity. A signed history book is always a great gift!



Historic Block in Escrow

Rumors have been flying about a pending sale for the last couple of weeks, and then the Valley Voice reported on it November 6, 2008. The 400 block of E. Main Street is now in escrow and the sale may happen as soon as January 2009. It is a historic block which at one time contained an old Chinese laundry, the California Hotel, Ramona Hotel, Automotive Parts Co., Dodge Brothers automobile dealership, Army Surplus, Wilson’s Cyclery, and Santa Fe Liquor to name just a few. The Mangano Co. is the buyer and according to Steve Peck, a company spokesman, the two-story brick building has severe structural problems. But when I talked to him about that, he indicated a more detailed inspection will be done. It’s certainly a historic area of Visalia and is one of the few remaining untouched brick structures in downtown. Most of them were removed in the 1960s and early 1970s as part of a revitalization effort. If you have any interesting anecdotes about any of the businesses that occupied that block or stories about the buildings themselves, please share them with us. As downtown moves east, I hope we can preserve the history of this historic block.



The Mystery Post—Need Help on This One

Visalia historian Joseph Vicenti recently passed along an interesting mystery. There is a concrete post embedded in the sidewalk near the curb on the northeast corner of E. Main Street and Liberty, directly across the street from the Uhl Tire Co. It stands a little over 4’ high and has “1948” stamped at the top. It must have served a purpose at one time, but what that was, no one seems to know. Joseph needs help on this one and it is a rather curious feature rising from the sidewalk. Drive by and take a look and if anyone knows something about this mystery post, please pass it on to us.

1936 Boy Scout Log Cabin Dedicated

On November 8, 2008, the Boy Scout cabin that stood on the south bank of Mill Creek near Sierra Vista School for many decades was given an official dedication at its new home in Mooney Grove Park. The restoration took close to a decade to complete, but it was worth the wait. Glen Drake, Jim Royall and Bob Ludekins deserve the lion’s share of the credit for this huge undertaking, however many were involved. It stands as a showcase for what can be done. The Boy Scouts have a right to be proud, Visalia does too. Thanks to Sandy Newman for this great event photograph.




New Agricultural Museum About to Get Underway

Bids are out and hopefully in a few short weeks ground will be broken for the new agricultural museum at Mooney Grove Park. Scheduled to be finished in 2009, the building will contain 10,000 square feet of useable feet, expandable to 17,000 square feet. It will house exhibits related to agriculture and farm labor history. The building will be built adjacent to the existing museum, but on the other side of Cameron Creek. It’s hard to imagine a more appropriate county for an ag museum than Tulare County. The project will cost over $3 million.




Assorted

{{}} The Grubstake Restaurant building on Walnut Ave just east of Mooney has been demolished and the materials hauled off.

{{}} I am told the much anticipated 2009 Visalia Community Bank historic photo calendar will be available to the public on about December 8th. Thanks to this civic minded organization for a great gift to the community.

{{}} The Annie R. Mitchell History Room at the Tulare County Library is open after about a 6-month remodel project. Come up – it’s bigger and better. Hours are 1:00-5:00pm Monday thru Thursday.



The man who took the stovepipe from the brick church is requested to bring it back. If not returned in a few days we will naturally conclude that he intends to steal it. Tulare Times, December 21, 1872.

REDISCOVERY OF OLD VISALIA MAP

Several weeks ago, Leslie Caviglia, Visalia Deputy City Manager, found an 1858 map of Visalia in storage. Endorsed by E. E. Calhoun, the Tulare County Clerk and Recorder at the time, the map is authentic and I believe it to be the first official Visalia street map. The town was 6 years old at the time it was made. How it has survived all these years is a mystery to me. Although faded, the detail on the map is amazing. Imagine Mill Creek being called Tiber and wide enough to have an island. Notice too, the hand drawn bridge over the Tiber at Bridge and Mill (now Main) streets. Efforts are underway to duplicate and preserve this wonderful piece of Visalia history. Good find Leslie.




REDEDICATION OF OLD VISALIA LIBRARY

On October 28, 2008, the 1936 Works Progress Administration (WPA) library building was rededicated. For many years the building was the pride and joy of the community, but for more than 3 decades it was relegated to storage facility status. It is again the pride and joy of the community! The dream of many was to see it restored and have it serve as a Children’s Library connected to the 1976 library building. Tulare County undertook the restoration project with substantial state funds and donations from individuals and groups alike. It was completed in 2008 and is an example of what a community can do when it is committed to keeping these classic old buildings. Visalia Heritage raised thousands of dollars to help make this project happen, and on their behalf Jane Nash was photographed as she made some appropriate remarks at the ribbon cutting ceremony.



GREELEY TOGNI RETURNS TO VISALIA

The Togni name has been in Visalia for over a century and up until the last year or so, the name has been part of Visalia’s business landscape since 1921. In that year, Charlie Togni and his brother-in-law Kenneth Branch began Togni Branch Stationary Store. In 1957 the partners sold the business to Charlie’s son Greeley, and in 1987 Greeley sold the stationary store to Pete and Dorothy Jungwirth. A couple of years ago, Greeley left Visalia due to health reasons and in 2007, the Togni Branch store closed its doors for good. It was sad to see the Togni name gone from Visalia after being a well known name for so many years here. Greeley passed away on October 22, 2008 in Folsom, California at the age of 86. Interment was at the Visalia Cemetery on October 30th.





DON’T MISS THE BOY SCOUT CABIN DEDICATION

In the 1930s, Visalia Boy Scouts built a log cabin clubhouse on the south bank of Mill Creek near Sierra Vista School. Over the years the old cabin fell into disrepair. Glen Drake, then an employee of the Visalia Unified School District, had a dream to bring it back to its glory days and he enlisted other scout “heavy hitters” to make it happen. The log cabin clubhouse was donated to the scouts and moved down Mooney Blvd. on July 27, 1999 to its new home in Mooney Grove Park. Local professional photographer and historian, Sandy Newman, snapped this once in a lifetime picture as the log cabin is trailored down Mooney Blvd.. On November 8, 2008 at 9:00am the restored log cabin will be dedicated at its new home. Come out and support the scouts and see a fine example of preserving the “old” for future generations to enjoy.






ASSORTED HAPPENINGS WORTH MENTIONING

///Did anyone else hear that Mondo is no longer at The Depot Restaurant? Hard to imagine The Depot without Mondo at the front door to greet you.

///Sounds like work is progressing on a plan to connect Visalia and Tulare using the old Santa Fe Railroad route. It’s being called the Santa Fe Trail and I understand it will be open to pedestrians and bicycle traffic and I also understand it will connect to Mooney Grove Park.

///The Visalia Masons recently conducted a Cornerstone dedication program for three Visalia schools – Manuel Hernandez, Annie Mitchell and Cottonwood Creek. Laying cornerstones has been a long tradition for the Masons and I hear they were decked out in full uniform and looked good!

///Regarding the Grubstake drive-in, Peter Cowper, tells us that in the 1960s it was called Ken and Fern’s Grubstake and Art Browning confirmed it. But the last operators of the Grubstake were Walt and Peggy Sanders. The building is still standing, but its days are numbered.


“Young man, be careful how you live. Avoid the unhallowed labyrinths of vice, where the pebbles of sin are polished and the diamond of youth is dimmed.” Visalia Morning Delta, March 27, 1898.

LATEST HISTORIC HAPPENINGS

A BIG BANG COMES TO MOONEY GROVE PARK

On October 11, 2008, the Tulare County Historical Society hosted a 38 vehicle caravan retracing the 1858 Butterfield Overland Stage route through Tulare County. The tour finished at the Tulare County Museum at Mooney Grove Park and ended with a bang! An anvil salute was demonstrated to our tour participants and it was the same type of salute that greeted the first stage that came through Visalia in 1858. It was a way for the old timers to celebrate something exciting and it was re-created for us thanks to Bill Bennett. The salute consisted of two 100 pound plus anvils stacked one on top of the other, with black powder in between them. The black power was ignited and the explosion that resulted was thundering as it launched the anvil on the top into the air. Thanks to the photography of Dallas Pattee who captured the moment, we see the results of the explosion. All who witnessed the anvil salute at historic Mooney Grove came away with a great appreciation for the power of black powder. Folks don’t try this at home!



WHO SAID HISTORY IS NOT EXCITING?

A couple of weeks ago I received a call from Visalia native Art Browning. He was very excited and told me he had been reading Jay O’Connell’s latest book Train Robber’s Daughter. As he read the part about the shootout in the 1890s at the Evans place near Houston Ave., he remembered as a young boy he found an old rusted 45-caliber pistol near his home also by Houston Ave. He wondered, “Could that old gun have been connected to Chris Evans or the lawmen hunting them down?” Hum, I wonder!




MORE ON FORT VISALIA

Susan and Rick Mangini were invited recently to attend a Visalia Heritage meeting and word has it there was lots of excitement in group about doing something in support of the re-creation of the fort. I haven’t heard anything recently about the Fort Visalia block . Anyone hear anything? What’s the status of the sale?




VISALIA FAIR MALL – GOTTSCHALKS' ESCALATOR

After reading in Historic Happenings some time back about the history of the Visalia Fair Mall, I received an email from Russ Dahler who shared that Visalia’s Gottschalks had the first and only escalator in Tulare County in 1964. He said a visit to it “was a must-do fieldtrip for Visalia Unified Schools.” at the time. Russ worked for Gottschalks at the time and remembers the excitement created around the escalator.


COURTHOUSE TOUR

Thanks to Supervisor Phil Cox, County Director of Tourism Eric Coyne, and TulareWorks Supervisor Marlene Cardoza, many of us had a nice guided tour of the old 1935 art deco courthouse building. It contained nice wood trim and features plus beautiful old art deco light fixtures. We all got to see the “secret” old tunnel access door, too. It was a great tour of this neat old solid building and all the tourists are appreciative of all who made it happen. Recently I received an email from David Weinstein who is a member of the Art Deco Society and he encouraged preservation of the old courthouse as he indicated Ernest Kump, the courthouse architect, was well known and that he was regarded as one of California’s most important architects.




MEARLE’S PARKING LOT IS PACKED

Recently I drove past the old Mearle’s Drive-In and it looked like the glory days at the old eatery. The parking lot was jammed with cars and it looked like they were open for business. But, unfortunately it was not open and was not serving great food. The cars parked in the parking lot were just occupying space, while the drivers were in class at COS. Other than the packed parking lot , not much else seems to be happening there. But the building seems to be aging rather quickly. How long can/should this go on??





MOONEY BOOK UPDATE

I received a couple of emails regarding the precise date that Bill Allen’s book on Michael Mooney will be re-printed and available for purchase. I contacted him recently and he indicated it looks like it will be available for purchase about November 15, 2008, just in time for Christmas. The Tulare County Historical Society will be offering it for sale and when it is available you will be notified in Historic Happenings.



GRUBSTAKE DRIVE-IN COMING DOWN


Recently, I drove by the old hamburger stand that was the Grubestake for many years. It looks like the old building is getting ready to be demolished. As you recall it was the hamburger stand on Walnut Ave, just east of Mooney Blvd. The building has been vacant for years, and according to reliable sources, it will be leveled and will be a bare lot until a master plan is developed for the sight. A lot of nostalgia there. Anyone know who last ran this fast food business there? I do.



Dakota Sioux tribal wisdom says that when you discover you are riding a dead horse, dismount.