Old photo postcard, postmarked January 1912.    The caption reads: "Court Street Looking North Visalia Cal.", by Beck.    The corner tower, or 'cupola', at left center is the Holt Block building; which was at the NW corner of Main and Court Streets (Where Starbucks is now).

Terry Ommen mentions this photo on his blog, he states: "...it shows Mt. Whitney Power Company when it leased office space in the S. C. Brown building on the east side of Court. In 1912 Mt. Whitney Power built a new building on W. Main Street (where Quality Jewelers is now.)"



Photo by "Robinson & Weishar,  Visalia, Cal".  Circa 1906.   This gentleman appears to be wearing a Masonic ceremonial uniform.



Photo postcard of a Tulare, CA school;  circa 1907.

According to Derryl A. Dumermuth's book  A Town Called Tulare (2002),  this school was built around 1885 as a elementary school.   High school classes began there in 1890.   One of the unique features of this building was the four-faced clock placed above the belfry (just visible at the top of this photograph).

Photo postcard of  Porterville.  Circa 1907.   A view looking east on Main St., between Oak and Mill Avenues.

 1908 photo postcard image taken in Visalia.   The view is from the top of the old county courthouse, looking southeast.  George Besaw is the photographer.
At the left lower corner is the Odd Fellows Hall, built in 1873;  this building was at the NE corner of Church St. and Center Ave.   The two story building near the right corner (with the number "176" written just in front of it) is the Delta Office (newspaper) building.    Almost all of the old buildings in this view are now gone.
 

(Added 12/9/15)  Another  George Besaw photograph taken from the top of the county courthouse, this time looking South.    The old courthouse had several statues on its roof.  You can see the back of one of these at the bottom of this image.
Several close-up views of buildings:

This is a close-up of the corner of Main and Church Streets.    The "Visalia House" was an old hotel, torn down in 1917.   It was the last place famed stage-coach robber  Black Bart  was seen (in the late 1880s). The Wunder Saloon is also visable here.    According to Joseph Vicenti,   the business with the horse statue is  Uhl Harness Shop.   It eventually became Uhl Rubber, one of the few local businesses to make the transition from horses to automobiles.

The cupola tower in the left foreground was at the NW corner of Main & Church, where the 5-story Bank of America building is now.   I think the narrow two-story building (middle of image) was the old firehouse.

Close-up showing the  J. Harrell Building and Vucovich Bros & Co  on Main Street.  
 

Portrait of a girl, from the studio of  E.A.S. Wyllie  - Tulare, CA.   Circa 1889.

Photo postcard from Lindsay, CA.  It appears to be the interior of a bar  with a billiard room in the back.    The calendar in this image indicates that it was taken in April 1915.   It is postmarked from Lindsay,  June 22, 1915.  Written on this card:  "Lindsay Cal,  June 23rd.  This is where I work.  How is old Vermont?  Your Old friend, Doun".

An old snapshot of two kids posing with a burro in Porterville,  circa 1905.  One of the businesses in the background is  Andrew S. Mapes' saddle shop.          The two photographs, below, are of the same girl on the burro.



 Photograph of a mule team in front of the Lindsay Feed & Fuel Co. (Lindsay, CA).  Circa 1909.

 Photo postcard from Lindsay, CA;  dated 2/11/1908.

I'm pretty certain this is an image of  Lorne Clifford Sparham with his little brother  Roy Elvis Sparham.    They are the children of William James Sparham and Fannie Almas.     The Sparham family were from Ontario Canada;  Lorne was born in Ontario,  Roy was born in Lindsay.    They apparently moved back to Canada sometime between the 1910 and 1920 U.S. Census.

 Photo of two young brothers.     Photograph by E. M. Davidson of Visalia, circa 1893.  

 Photograph by E. M. Davidson of Visalia, circa 1893.

I bought this photo with the one just above,  so it's possible she might be the mother of those two young boys.    Unfortunately there are no names on either photograph.

 Photograph by  E.A.S. Wyllie (Edward Arthur Sanders Wyllie) of Tulare, circa 1890.    Redwoods were being logged at multiple locations in-and-around Tulare County during this time,   especially the areas near Grant Grove and Balch Park.     In 1890,  oxen were still an integral part of many of these logging operations,  but  eventually much of their work was taken over by steam-engines (e.g.  Dragging cut logs to the sawmills).       (Updated 6/15/16):  I've recently seen another old print of this image which has a "C. C. Curtis" photographer's stamp on the back.   Occasionally, photographers have allowed other studios to print their photos.   I would guess that this is actually a Curtis image that Wyllie paid for the rights to use.  Curtis is known for his many logging photographs.

 

Photo by E.A.S. Wyllie of Tulare, circa 1890.     An image of fruit being dried on trays.    There was a  considerable risk of fresh fruit spoiling during shipment to other markets (The railroads would not guarantee  timely deliveries).   So fruit was commonly dried back then, to preserve it.    In Tulare County;  peaches, apricots,  apples, pears and plums were often dried.     This might be the Paige and Morton Ranch which was just west of Tulare.

 From a photo postcard of Orosi, CA, circa 1911.    There's a bank, drug store and realty office in this image.     A close-up reveals window and street ads for things like Welch's Grape Juice and Bishops Rough House Chocolates.

Photo postcard image of the Bank of Tulare, circa 1907.
This bank was located at the corner of Tulare Avenue and K Street.

 Three postcards from the Brisco Iron Works in Lindsay, CA.   Circa 1912.    According to the trade literature this company existed from 1911 to about 1914.    They specialized in pumping (irrigation) machinery.

 

Brisco Iron Work's foundry.   Photo by Lindley Eddy.

A view of Brisco's machine shop.   Photo by Lindley Eddie.

Specialized pumping equipment being shipped from Brisco Iron Works.    This postcard is post-marked 6/29/1912.

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Below are from a group of small photographs taken in 1917 at Swall's Ranch, Tulare CA.  

According to The Tulare Advance Register's 4/5/1920 issue:      William Swall (1848-1920) started this ranch with an 80 acre homestead  along the Tule River in 1873.   Eventualy it grew to 1700 acres, and was known as the Deep Creek Ranch.  The Advance Register stated that it was "one of the finest fruit ranches in the valley".

 

Foster Bell

This appears to be the worker's dining room.

Foster Bell again.   Apparently many of the workers slept outside during the summer.   

That maybe some sort of mosquito netting strung across the head of the bed.

Lynn Sanborn

This is how many young men still spend their Saturday nights.