214 East Oak Ave. Visalia, California (Circa 1912). This is the present site of Arts Visalia, same building and all.  This image is a scan made from the glass negative.

The photo is by Howard Clinton Tibbitts (1863-1937). Tibbitts was a San Francisco based photographer who worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad documenting landscapes, towns, agriculture, parks, and other local scenes to help promote passenger travel on the railroad. His work was used in the railroad’s magazine SUNSET starting with the first publication in 1898.


Here are some close-ups from the above photo:   



This building was used by the Visalia Co-operative Creamery.   They made butter and cheese at this site.

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 On the back of this photo someone has written: "Visalia Citrus Fair, Dec 4th-13th. 13" (1913).    This probably refers to the Tulare County Citrus Fair, which  opened on December 4 of that year (in Visalia).

I bought this picture from someone in France. 

I'm not sure if this is Visalia's municipal band in the image.

Two of the background buildings appear to be the Visalia House and The Bell Theater; that would mean this photograph was taken looking east on Main St., near the intersection of Main and Church St.

Close-up from the above photo:

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 This is a photo postcard (circa 1916).
The corner inscription reads: "Parlier Construction Co. camp, Cross Creek, Tulare Co. Cal., Photo by Parfitt".
From the style of script on this photo, it appears to have been taken by  James Henry Parfitt (1873-1965).  Parfitt's home base was Tigerton and Eagle River, Wisconsin.   Perhaps his biggest contribution to photography was the numerous photos he took documenting Wisconsin's logging industry.

Close-up:

I'm amazed at how much detail can be scanned from this old 3 x 5 inch postcard.