A  photo postcard view of Visalia's  Main Street,  looking west,   near its intersection with Garden St.  Circa  1907.

The building to the near left hand side, still stands at 309 E. Main.    It is the building where the Las Palmas  Restaurant was later located.    Just west of this was John Hyde's furniture store.        Across the street from 309 E. Main  is the Harvey House hotel.   According to Terry Ommen's blog,  the Harvey House structure was built around 1904 and it was torn down in 1971.      Down the same side of the street,  at the NW corner of Church and Main St,  is the old Bank of Visalia clock tower.   The 5 story Bank of Italy building now stands at that location (built in 1923).

 This appears to be one of George Besaw's photos,  see the Visalia Armory Building photo I posted on 7/17/2018.    Besaw's armory photo is numbered "171",  and this photo is numbered "168" (in the lower right corner).   Most likely,  Besaw took these images within days of each other.      In the image above, I can just make out a small poster for the play "Peck's Bad Boy" (as was also in the armory photo).     This would seem to indicate, that both of these photographs were taken  around the time of that play;  April 19, 1907.

Photo postcard by Beck, circa 1911.        The big building at the end of the street is the old high school, that was located in the Lincoln Oval.    This appears to be a view looking north from the 500  block of  N. Court Street.    The two-story Victorian home, at the left side of the image, still appears to be at that location.        (Many thanks to the the people at the facebook group Visalia, Gateway to the Sequoias  who pinned down the exact location of this image.)

 

From a postcard, dated 10/4/1909, Lindsay Cal.      Written on the back of the card "This is main street of Lindsay".    I assume that this is Honolulu Street.      One of the businesses here is the Lindsay Drug Co.    According to the 1910 Tulare County directory, this drug store was on Honolulu Street.

Photograph by Robinson & Churchman, circa 1900.        The style of the photograph seems later than 1900.   But apparently the partnership of  Robinson & Churchman had ended by December 1900.     The 12/21/1900 issue of the Daily Visalia  Delta newspaper,  states that the photographer S.E. Churchman had moved to Chico,  and  had opened  a studio there.   

On the back of the photo is written "Dora Garnett".     I would guess that this is Madora (Dameron) Garmett of Visalia (Married to: Marcus Garnett).  She would have been around 28 years old at the time of the photo.    They did have a daughter named Dora, but she would have only been about 6 years old at the time of this photograph.

Photo by Doran Studio of Tulare.  Circa 1910.

An old photo postcard image of the Camp Nelson Hotel, circa 1922.     It was built on the same property as  an earlier version of the hotel, this one  was constructed in 1912.
The image is by Hammond's Studio of Porterville. 

A scan from a glass negatives by Howard Clinton Tibbitts.     He was one of the early Sunset Magazine photographers.  The photo is circa 1911.      Tibbitts listed this image as "Ranch near Visalia".

A small carte de visite portrait, from the studio of A. J. Jones, "Tulare City, California".   Circa 1879. 

 Looking at old voting and census records: It appears  that the photographer Abial J. Jones  worked in Tulare and Fresno Counties from about 1870 to 1900.     Apparently, most of that time was spent in Tulare.        I was a bit surprised by the amount of time he seems to have spent in the Tulare County area...     I have only heard of a few references to A. J. Jone's photographs.

Photograph by Doran Studio of Tulare, circa 1895.

An old photo postcard view of Springville's  Soda Springs, circa 1912.

Written on the back of this postcard: "1923 - Dedication of the Harding Tree in Giant Forest, Calif.".

This sequoia is now more commonly referred to as the President tree.  

An article in the 9/7/1923 issue of  The National Lumber Bulletin states:  "Giant Redwood Dedicated to Memory of Late President  -  A permanent memorial to the late President Harding has just been contributed by California forests...  The second largest tree in the world was dedicated to his memory, August 12,  as the Warren Harding Tree.     In dedicating the giant sequoia...  Col John R. White, superintendent of Sequoia and Grant national parks, declared that..."

 Photo by Doran of Tulare.
Someone numbered the people in the photo, and there is a corresponding list of names written on the left margin.   Unfortunately, some of these written names are difficult to decipher.    I would guess that this is a Tulare high school senior class picture; circa 1900. e.g. Checking the names with the 1900 U.S. Census:  most are 17 or 18 years old and listed as students living in Tulare.
Here are the names I can make out and their corresponding numbers on the photograph:  1_ Warren Bradley,   2_ Will Ayers,   3_ Bob Young,  5_ Roy Burnett,  6_ Fred Potter,  7_ Otha Holmes,  8_ Bob Sutherlin,  9_ Ivy Nelson,  10_ Mildred Hicks,   11_ Curly (Alma) Zumwalt,   12_ Elna Dewitt,  13_ Grace Reams,  14_ Irene Carpenter,  15_ Barbara Olive Limegrover,  17_ Mable Cantwell,  18_ Julia Carleton,  20_ Laura Bailey,  21_ Emma Caldwell.        Possibles are:   4_ Otto Bashore,  16_ Mable Wann,  19_ Ethel Nicholson.

 Another photo by the Tulare studio of Doran.   Circa 1898.

 Photo by S. W. Watrous of Visalia, circa 1886.

 Photo by the Visalia studio of Robinson & Churchman, circa 1899.
The man and woman appear to be members of the Salvation Army.    e.g. They are wearing Salvation Army styled jackets, with the "S" insignia on their collars.   

 From the Visalia studio of Robinson & Churchman, circa 1899.

Another Robinson & Churchman photo, circa 1899.

A small portrait from the Visalia studio of Kiefer & Sammis.     This photo is heavily damaged and faded, but I include it here because it's the oldest original image from Tulare County, that I own.
On the back of it someone has written: "W. S. Shearer, age 17, Visalia Cal.".     This would most likely be Willow Springs Shearer, who was born 7/16/1849.    If taken when Willow Shearer was 17, it would have been in 1866 or 1867; which would coincide with the dates the studio of Kiefer & Sammis is thought to have been in Visalia (i.e. About 1867).
To put things into historical perspective, this would have been about 5 years before the towns of Tulare and Fresno existed.
You can just make out the powder-horn tucked into his belt, that he would have used for the muzzle-loading rifle.

 An old photo postcard by Hammond's Studio of Porterville.    On the back is written: "Merry Xmas from the Allens to you all. ... Ethel".   And in a different handwriting, is written: "Glen Edward Allen, Age 5 yrs. 1916".
Back then, it was popular to have personal photos printed in the form of a  postcard.
Glen's parents were Edward Loofe Allen and Ethel Stella Ross.
The Allen family was originally from Canada. They are listed in records as living in Plano and then Porterville, from about 1910 to the 1960's.

The Dinuba home of  Jacob Wilburn Jack, circa 1900.      According to the person who sold the photograph, this was one of the first Dinuba homes with indoor plumbing.    The story goes that some of the local residence thought that Mr. Jack was crazy for putting his outhouse indoors!     The home doesn't appear to have electricity at this time, e.g. No visible wires to the house, and the water-tank appears to have an AerMotor wind-powered pump.

Photo postcard image of the General Sherman Tree,  circa 1911.    Lindley Eddy is the photographer.
Close up:

A close-up of the sign, which says: "Wood and Bark of Sequoia Trees, either standing or fallen, will not be molested in this Park.".    I've seen similar signs in old photos of Grant Grove, warning people not to take bark off of trees.    I'm guessing this was a problem with people taking bark and wood  as souvenirs.

Photo by Downey's Art Studio, Tulare.   Circa 1893.

Photograher G. E. Garver,  Porterville.  Circa 1895.

Photograph by Charles Albert Myers.   Voter registration list Myers as living in Porterville in 1896.    Prior to this he had a studio in Visalia, and later I believe he had several studio locations in San Francisco.      Note spelling of Porterville with a middle "s".   This is also how the U.S. Postal Service spelled the town's name, until about 1914.

Photo by Doran (James Turner Doran) of Tulare.  Circa 1892

Another Doran Studio photograph.    Circa 1889.

Photograph by the Visalia studio of S.W. Watrous (Stephen West Watrous), circa 1882.

During this period, that same unusual looking chair appeared in a lot of Watrous's studio photographs.

From an old photo postcard, circa 1908.    This is Visalia, looking westward down Oak Ave., near its corner with Church St.    There's a horse drawn street sprinkler in the foreground with a Visalia Electric Railroad passenger car, to the right.   The old county courthouse in the background.    Street sprinklers were needed because Oak Ave. wasn't paved at that time.
These Visalia Electric Railroad passenger cars ran by themselves, powered by electric motors (via contact with overhead power-lines).   The VE Railroad ran these types of cars from Visalia to Exeter, and then on to Lemon Cove and Woodlake.

 Written on the back of this school photo:   "Elsie Heard.  Taken at Roche Avenue School.  November 1924.   Porterville, Calif.    Second year in school. 6 years old.".        I assume Elsie is the girl in the front row, second from the right (someone has drawn an "X" on her shoulder).  
I don't know much about the photo company ("T.C.W.  Co.,  251 Post, -S.F.-");    other than finding examples of this studio mark on California school photos from Chico, Sultana,  and possibly  La Jolla.

(Update: 3/6/24):   The photographer was  Theodor Clemens Wohlbrück, e.g. The 1921 San Francisco directory lists his address as 251 Post Street.   He had a previous history of taking school class photos in Massachusetts.

 Family photo by Photo by the Visalia studio of  Robinson & Churchman (Ida Robinson & Schuyler E. Churchman), circa 1899.    

 Tourist posing in front of the General Sherman Tree, with a photographer.
From an early photo postcard, circa 1907.

 Photo by E. M. Davidson, of Visalia.   Circa 1892.

An old photo postcard image of the 1909 Lindsay High School girls' basketball team.
It's addressed to Carl Stelling of San Jose, CA.      The message on the card:
'"Dear Carl, Maybe you reconize some the group.  This is what we will take to "wipe up" Exeter Hi (maybe).  Game comes off Sat sure.   I hope it don't rain.    Our suits are green with red 'L.H.S'. ... Nina'".

Postcard image of Dinuba's  L  Street,   postmarked  9/25/1916.

Photograph by the Visalia studio of E.M. Davidson, circa 1888.
On the back of the photo is written: "Tillie & Jim Mehrten, Twins (youngest)".
Most likely, this is an image of Matilda Mae & James Arthur Mehrten.   They are indeed twins and  the youngest children of Louis Mehrten and Mae Elizabeth Poppe.   They were born on Sept. 7, 1879  at the family home in Swamp Ranch (near the present town of Woodlake).     

Tillie Mehrten married Thomas William Homer in 1901,  and they lived on the Homer family ranch on Dry Creek.    I believe this is the Homer Ranch that is now a nature reserve.

Jim Mehrten was a longtime resident of the Three Rivers area.    He married Amy Myrtle Odenbaugh in 1902.    During the early 1900's  he carried mail, freight and passengers up to Giant Forest via stagecoach.     During the 1930's he built and operated a mountain resort in Silver City (Mineral King). 

---- Information on the Mehrten's is from the book Pioneers in Paradise,  by Sophie Britten;    and from the website Slices of Time  which also is the source of this photograph (and the 2 photos below)

Photo by the studio of  Robinson and Churchman,  Visalia.     Written on the back:  "Gerald Clinton,  two months - twenty days".       Most likely this is an image of  Gerald Hobert Clinton.   The official source documents I can find online list his birth date as July 28, 1897;  in Tulare.    That would mean the photo was taken on-or-about October 18, 1897.

Gerald Clinton married Alice M. Hylton.

Photograph by C. A. Myers.     On the back is written "Marion Embert Todd".     He was born in Orosi  on May 12, 1891.       Note the hand at the right edge of the image,  touching the bottom of his skirt.     This is probably the hand of his mother, Nellie Emogene Titus.     Back then,  toddlers often had their photos taken with their mothers very close-by;  to help keep the child calm.

Marion Todd married Georgia Francis Beedle.

Photograph of the Bonnie Brae Orange Ranch, near Exeter CA.   Circa 1904.  
 According to Annie R. Mitchell, the first packing house in Exeter was built by Bonnie Brae in 1901.

Postcard image of the River Inn at Three Rivers, circa 1911.   Photo by Lindley Eddy.

Photo postcard by Lindley Eddy, circa 1910.   The River Inn Company not only owned the hotel just above Three Rivers (see previous image), they also operated a store and "eating house" at Camp Sierra (pictured here).    This company also furnished stage transportation from Lemon Cove to Giant Forest, and they  provided "tent hotel" accommodations for tourists.   The River Inn Co. raised cows and cattle, in a nearby meadow, to provide milk and beef for the tourists and for the U.S. Cavalry stationed there.

Family photo by the Visalia studio of Robinson and Churchman, circa 1900.

Written at the top of this photo postcard: "Barris Wigwam".  Postmarked Dinuba, 10/09/1913.

An article here, indicates that this "Wigwam"  was located on Barris Hill, near the residence of Emery Barris [1847-1934].  This article states: "...the spacious wigwam for picnic parties made a romantic and enchanting scene not to be forgotten".

   Barris Hill is east of Dinuba, near the SW corner of  Avenue 424 and Road 100.

Another postcard view of the Barris Wigwam.   Postmarked from Dinuba, 7/02/1913.

Postcard image of Porterville's First Baptist Church, circa 1910.

This church was located on the southeast corner of  Mill and Second streets.

Postcard panoramic view of Lemon Cove, circa 1914.   Photograph by Lindley Eddy.   This is a view looking east.

Close-up

Lemon Cove's railroad depot is to the right.   The depot and railroad tracks are no longer there.   The old Pogue family residence is at center, behind the wooden water tower.   This old residence is now the Lemon Cove Women's Club.

 An old photo postcard image of Visalia's July 4th parade in 1908. The photograph was taken 'looking' northeast, near the intersection of Main and Locust Streets.          This was during the time that the U.S. Navy's Great White Fleet was going around the world, thus the nifty horse-drawn battleship float.
You can see the old Tulare County courthouse at the upper left, which was at the NW corner of Church St. and Center Ave.

A 1910 photo postcard of Tulare, by photographer John Bowers of Long Beach.

This is a view looking north down J Street from Kern Avenue.   This area was also known as Front Street.

 Close-up:

 Photo postcard view of the Southern Pacific Railroad Depot (now the Depot Restaurant), on Oak Ave., Visalia.  Circa 1921.    

The old county courthouse is the background.   This courthouse was built in 1876.  It was torn-down after it sustained significant damage from the 1952 Tehachapi earthquake. 

  

 An old photo postcard view of Main St., Visalia. Circa 1907.
Visalia's Carnegie "Free Library" is at the left foreground of this image, which was on the NE corner of Encina and Main Streets.    

 Terry Ommen recently commented on this postcard, in his Visalia history blog, he said:  

"...On the far left is the Carnigie Library (gone now) and on the far right is the Askins Sheet Metal Works (also gone now.) The Askins business was at this location from 1904 to 1911. In order to date this picture, it helps to know the library was finished in 1904, so I date this photograph to be from the first decade of the 20^th century. There are a few interesting things about this photograph. Notice the dirt streets, cement sidewalks, and there are still some wooden buildings on Main Street."

 A couple of close-up views:

 

Photo portrait of a woman in the polka-dot dress, from the Visalia studio of  E. M. Davidson.  Circa 1893.

Photo by the studio of Robinson & Churchman (Miss Ida Robinson & Schuyler E. Churchman), circa 1899.

 Photo postcard of Lindsay's Nazarene Church, circa 1911.

An early Tulare County biker with Harley, circa 1915.      This is from an old photo postcard.   

In the background, there's a sign for the Visalia Steam Laundry company.  This company served Visalia and some of the smaller communities in the area.     It looks like he is on a 1914 Harley Davidson.   

I'm not exactly sure where this photo was taken...  but the structure behind him could be the Brick Block building in Woodlake.