Photo by Foster, Tulare.  Circa 1895

An old image of Goshen, CA. Circa 1887.    The photographer is C.C. Curtis, from his Traver studio.

Written on the back: "This is our place of business that was burned. Post office, saloon and butcher shop. - Victor Colon. Goshen."   Victor Colon is listed as Goshen's postmaster between June 1886 and June 1888.   C.C. Curtis had his Traver photography studio from 1885, to May of 1888.

The writing and photographer's stamp, on the back of the Goshen photo:

A photo postcard image of Tulare High School girls basketball team, 1908.

From an old photo postcard, postmarked 11/9/1907.
It's an image of a magnesite mine, east of Porterville.

The studio stamp on this photograph states: "Robinson & Weishar, Holt Block, Visalia, Cal". Circa 1904.      On the back of the photo someone wrote "Elsie Chatten".      

Elsie Amelia Chatten (1889-1961) was the daughter of John Chatten and Celeste Reynolds, of Orosi.   She married Logan Joseph Lindley, in 1908, and they had four children.   In 1925, she married Arvid Roman.    Elsie and Arvid had one child, in 1930, a daughter named Karin.      Apparently after Arvid's death in 1937, Elsie could no longer take care of Karin.    Karin was adopted by her eldest half-sister and her sister's husband, Dorothy Lindley and Charles Smith.    Dorothy was 22 years older than her sister Karin. According to an online family history, Karin passed away in 2015, and she appears to have lived a very happy life.    Elsie was buried in the Visalia Cemetery, under the name Elsie A. Roma

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Below are images sold as being from the Visalia area.     They are by "Ansley".    I believe that they are by Frank S. Ansley of Visalia,  circa 1902.

A couple close-ups:

A couple close-ups:

(Update 7/22/21)  Many thanks to Joseph L. Noell,  who recognized this scene from one of his old family photos.     This is a family gathering at the Visalia home of  Norbourne Noell, in April 1902.   Norbourne owned the Visalia-Millwood Stage during this time period. 

Standing in the back row, from L to R:    George McClellan Noell, Judith A (Pierce) Noell,  Etta (Fly) Noell, Carl Milton Noell,  Walter Raleigh Kightlinger,  Cynthia Ann (Grubb) Kightlinger. 

Front row (L to R):   Louis Noell (with long hair and dress),  Avery Noell Roser,  Cornelia Jane "Jennie" (Noell) Roser,   Carol Roser (on Jennie's lap),  Julius Alden Noell,   Edith (Kightlinger) Noell - wife of Norbourne,   Dewey Noell (in front of his mother, Edith),   James Noell,  Norbourne Noell holding his son Myrle,  Edgar Roser,  Martha W. (Casey) Noell,  Martha Olivia Noell.

Close-up:

Close-up:

Close-up:

Close-up:

I did a blow-up image of the dog,  it looks an awful lot like one of the dogs in a Frank S. Ansley print I own  (Different angle, but many of the same markings on the dog).

Below are three photo postcards of a family farm, each with the inscription "Venice Hill, Calif.  1913".      Venice Hill (or Hills)  is just SE of Ivanhoe,  not far from the Charter Oak.

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This is Visalia Union High School's lightweight football team, from the Fall season of 1924.
They are standing in front of the old gym.    This building was declared unsafe during the 1966-67 school year, and was later torn down.  By that time, the gym was part of Redwood High School.    I've been able to identify a few of the men in this photograph:     Back row center is the coach George L. Righter.     Second row, to the far right is Irwin Boone.      A couple possibles:  Front row, second from the right appears to be Clarence Jones;   Front row, second from the left appears to be Emmet Paregien

A small carte de visite  portrait by the Visalia studio of   E. M. Davidson, circa 1887.

Photo postcard by John Bowers of Long Beach,  showing Lindsay's packinghouse area; circa 1910.   To the right side of the image is Lindsay's ice-house.  Center-right, in the distance,  is the Lindsay railroad depot.

Postcard image of the First Christian Church of Dinuba, circa 1907.
According to Dinuba historian Ron Dial, this church was moved from Monson to Dinuba in 1905.   (Monson is about 3.5 miles SE of Dinuba.)

Postcard image, circa 1912, of the Tulare mansion often referred to as The Oaks.

According to local historian, Derryl A. Dumermuth,   it was built before 1910 by P. J. S. Montgomery.    Mr. Montgomery was the manager of the Paige & Morton Ranch.    Hulett Merritt acquired the property in the early 1920s.    The mansion was torn down in 1959.

The Baptist Church of Tulare.  Located on the NW corner of  King Ave. and M St.   Circa 1912.

Photo postcard of the Congregational Church of Tulare, circa 1912.  

Postcard image of the Christian Church of Tulare,  circa 1910.    Located at the NE corner of Tulare Ave and G St.    This church building still stands at that location, though the structure has been heavily modified.     Local historian, Derryl A. Dumermuth,  wrote that this church was built in 1887 and that the sanctuary is the oldest continuously operating church building in Tulare.

Postcard image of the End of the Trail  in Mooney Grove Park , circa 1920.     It was originally exhibited at the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition of San Francisco.     The statue was purchased by Tulare County in 1919 and placed in Mooney Grove. 

   The sculptor was James Earle Fraser.

In 1968  the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, of Oklahoma City,  acquired this plaster statue.     Soon after, a bronze cast  of the plaster statue was made for Mooney Grove.

Photo postcard image of The Pioneer  statue in Mooney Grove, from 1921.    Like the End of The Trail,  it was first exhibited at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition of San Francisco, in 1915.   Soon after the exposition, it was purchased for Mooney Grove.    It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
The statue was a plaster type  with some internal framing.    After decades of exposure to the elements, it toppled over and was destroyed after a 1980 earthquake.    The sculpture was Solon Borglum.

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'".