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

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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.

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

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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 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.

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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.

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