A cabinet card photograph of a young man by E. M. Davidson (Ellis M. Davidson).  Visalia, CA.  Circa 1890

 Close-up:



Porterville's water tower and electric service, circa 1912.




Here's a photo postcard of the old Tulare County Courthouse, Visalia.     The courthouse was built in 1876.  This photograph was probably taken around 1906  (Larger north and south wings were added to the building  around 1908).   This courthouse was torn down after it sustained significant damage from the 1952 Tehachapi earthquake.


A photo postcard view of the Lemon Cove store and hotel (Circa 1920).     This is the old W.H. Moffett & Son mercantile building.

Close-up:

The Lemon Cove post office is to the left. Note the little dog snoozing at the curbside and the small person just inside the post office.



Here are several photographs by Howard Clinton Tibbitts, circa 1911

These images were scanned from glass negatives.

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.

Close-up from photo above:

Tibbitts listed the above image as "Stage at Juanita Meadows" in one of his photographic journals,  and the photos below he listed as scenes from the California Grove Sequoias.   Some guild books from around 1915 (see here , here and here),   tell of  this particular stagecoach tour of  California Grove, via Juanita Meadows.  e.g.  An excerpt from The Tourist's California,  by Ruth Kendzie Wood (1914):
"...A stage leaves Lemon Cove early in the morning for Camp Juanita (18 m.) where the night is passed. To the east of the road is Sequoia National Park in the upper part of which is the famous Giant Forest. (Through this Reserve another road passes from Lemon Cove, the trail continuing north via Horse Corral.).     On the second day the stage passes through the sequoia forest called California Grove which has been open to travel only a few years and contains the most numerous assemblage of tree giants some 8000 in all, besides thousands of other evergreen trees. This is another camping rendezvous for holiday-makers between spring and autumn. At Quail Flat (13 m. beyond Juanita Meadows)..."

In this image, just below the man driving the stage are the painted letters "KRS&T.CO.".   These initials stood for the Kings River Stage & Transportation Company.   According to one of the old guide books, the KRS&T  gave tours of the California Grove area via Juanita Meadows. Within 10 years of these photos being taken this transportation company apparently replaced its horse-drawn stages with touring automobiles.

The California Grove is now called Redwood Mountain Grove (at the southern edge of  Kings Canyon National Park).
I could not find Juanita Meadows or Camp Juanita on any old or modern map.   But from the descriptions given in the old guild books listed here,  I'm pretty sure that this camp was some place just off of  Dry Creek Drive, probably south or southeast of Badger CA (For example, it might have been in the western part of  Eshom Valley). 
As of ten years ago, you could still navigate through this area of paved and dirt roads in a 2W drive car and make your way from Lemon Cove to the Redwood Mountain Grove and Quail Flat,  e.g. Travelling through  Hartland Christian Camp ,  Eshom Campground and the unpaved sections of the Whitaker Forest Road .
(Added 10/15/13)  In  Jackie Weiner's book about photographer C.C. Curtis,  it states that a place called the "Juanita Hotel" was in Eshom Valley (around 1890).

Tibbitts called this glass negative "Fallen Tree Calif Grove" in his journal.    All of the images in today's post were cataloged & numbered in fairly close sequence  in this journal, suggesting that these photographs were all taken around the same time.   I believe that this is the sequoia now referred to as  Fallen Goliath, it's on the Hart Tree Trail of the Redwood Mountain Grove. 

Close-up from above photo:

These three people are also in the photograph below.

This glass negative was listed as: "Calif Grove Sequoias".

Close-up:

 (1/12/13, Update)  Here's another image from the same series.   Tibbitts also listed this one in his journal as "Calif Grove Sequoias".

 Close-up:

Photo from Doran studio, Tulare CA. (circa 1895).

 Tipton's  grammar school, circa 1917.    The image was scanned from a glass slide.   This is the only photo I've seen of this school.  I assume that this was a school in Tipton CA (and not in Tipton, Indiana or Iowa) because it is built in the Mission Revival style, and because the sign above the school's entrance says "1874  TIPTON SCHOOL 19--" (The second year is cut off by the angle of the building).  e.g.   Mission Revival was a popular architecture style for schools in central California from around 1905  to 1925.   Tipton's first school was founded in 1874.
(Update 4/26/15) After talking to several long-term residence of Tipton (via Facebook),  I have serious doubts about this school being in Tipton CA.  I will leave this image here, for now, until I have a more definitive answer.
(Update 2/11/19) I've just seen a photo postcard image of this same school.   It's identified on the photo itself as "Tipton School" and it is postmarked from Tipton, California.   The sender of the card gives his location as "Tipton, Calif.",  and calls it "our school bldg".   The card is postmarked November 21, 1915.    
I had looked extensively for images of this school, even searching for old school photos in out-of-state towns and counties named "Tipton".        I'm finding that old images of school buildings are some of the hardest things to identify.    It's possible that this school didn't last long.  If you look closely at the image above, there are signs that it was falling into disrepair.    Perhaps it wasn't constructed very well.
(Added 3/2/19)  I've just received the Tipton School postcard, mentioned above.   Here it is:

This is a small portrait of two girls.   From the studio of  E. M. Davidson, Visalia, CA (circa 1893).

On the back of this photograph someone has written "Gram Dollner".

Photo postcard of the Kirk Hotel building, Exeter CA (circa 1910).  Most likely this card was produced by the Western Postcard Company (George Besaw, photographer).   On the back of this card someone has written: "Here Sept. 18 - 1910".

 Photograph by S. W. Watrous (Stephen West Watrous), Visalia, CA.    Circa 1886.

On the back of this photo there is a little writing, it looks like:  "Weishar",  "(1886 prox)".      There was at least one Weishar family in Tulare County during this period.   This could be Mary Agnes Martin who married Robert J. Weishar,  here is their family photo taken around 1899.

A lot of photo postcards were produced of this old Sequoia National Park entrance, but this is the first one that I remember seeing with the picture taken looking downhill, i.e. from the opposite side of the entrance...  This  actually makes it a photo of the exit from Sequoia Nat. Park.
The photograph is by Lindley Eddy (circa 1920).   Eddy was the photographic concessionaire at Giant Forest, for 30 years.    
From what I've read, this particular entrance was along the old Kaweah Colony lumber mill road,  about 4 miles north-northwest of the present park entrance.   This old route is now called the Colony Mill Trail.

Photo postcard view of Lindsay CA,  by Lindley Eddy.  Circa 1914.     Prior to 1920,  many rural towns in the U.S. had unpaved streets, even in their downtown areas.

Here's a snapshot of a man in front of Terra Bella's railroad depot. Circa 1916.
The Terra Bella Development Company was a real estate partnership that was formed in 1909.    This partnership built the depot and other structures in Terra Bella  in an attempt to attract more people into the area.

(Added 11/17/15) Photo postcard view of Terra Bella's depot, circa 1920.



A photo postcard of the granite quarry that was about 4 miles east of Porterville.

Photo by A. H. Brooks, circa 1915.

This is a cabinet card photograph by Downey studio, Porterville CA. (circa 1895-1900)