This is an old photograph of a ranch house in Lindsay, CA.  Circa 1900.   On the back of this photo someone has written: "Lindsay place before the yard was planted".   I would guess that it's the owner &  family that are out on the second floor balcony.

 Here's a present day photo taken near the site of the photograph above.  The old ranch house is apparently no more.   This photo was taken from Avenue 232 at the Friant-Kern Canal.

Close-up of the ranch house:

This image is from a Keystone View Company magic-lantern glass slide.  The description printed above this slide is as follows:  "Complete Irrigation Pipe of Redwood Staves Bound by Iron Bands, Near Lindsay, Calif." (Copyrighted April 1919).    According to this 1918 Engineering and Contracting publication,  the Lindsay-Strathmore Irrigation District used 87,497 feet of 14-inch to 48-inch redwood stave pipe such as this.  (That's over 16.5 miles of redwood pipe.)
It's odd to think of so much pipe made this way, i.e. Constructed like VERY long wooden barrels.

(Added 8/16/14) This is another Keystone View Company magic-lantern glass slide (Slide # 23071).   The Library of Congress copyright entry for this slide states:  "Steam shovel excavating trench for wooden pipes near Lindsay, Cal." (Copyright Jan. 15, 1919).

This is a photo postcard of a school, apparently in the Visalia area (I'm not sure yet which school it is).
It's post-marked "Visalia, Cal. Apr. 13, 1909", and addressed to "Miss Hazel Flory,  Percy, Iowa".
The postcard is from the school's teacher and addressed to her cousin Hazel...  she wrote:
"Dear Hazel. This is to give you a slight idea how I spend my time.  There were 7 absent the day this was taken.  At present I have 36 enrolled.  Lots of time to spare, Oh yes.  At present I am having school morning, noon & evening reviewing my 9th grade for the Co examinations which come in 2 weeks.  I never left this berg till 5:15 tonight & I am so tired I am almost crazy.  I lost 2 weeks just recently on account of having the mumps so that is one reason I am rushed so now.       I am as ever, Your Cuz, V."

(Update 12/2/15) Soon after I posted these images, I was able to determine that "Your Cuz, V."  is Vera Savilla Jones.   She is Hazel Flory's second-cousin.     During this period, Vera is  listed in the census and in the Visalia city directory as a public school teacher.   But I have not been able to determine which school(s) she taught at... so I still have no clue which school this is.   

Vera's father is Enos Avlin Jones, who Vera apparently lived with in Visalia.   In 1915 she married Arthur Dice of Visalia

Two close-ups from the above photograph:

Here are three old photo postcards showing town-views.

 Strathmore, CA.  Circa 1910.

 Tulare, CA.  Circa 1920.  This old bank building is on the NW corner of Kern Ave. and K Street.

A photo postcard view looking down L Street in Dinuba, CA (circa 1907).   The photograph is by George Besaw.   This block in Dinuba looked rather 'Old West' back then.

Close-Up:

 I don't see any cars in this picture, but on the right side of this image there is a storefront sign that says "Automobiles".



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".