Postcard image of the Lemon Cove hotel/store and post office.  Circa 1909.    At that time,  Lemon Cove was one of the starting points for stagecoaches going to mountain areas such as Giant Forest (Sequoia National Park).   Back then, cars had a difficult time making it up to the Park.   Tourists could travel to Lemon Cove by way of the Visalia Electric Railroad.   Note the early gas pump at the left edge of the image.

 Close up:

 An old postcard image of the Giant Forest post office.   This card is postmarked from that post office on  7/27/1917.      The photographer is Lindley Eddy.

 

 Another postcard image by Lindley Eddy.    This one is of the General Sherman Tree,   circa 1910.

 A small portrait from the Visalia studio of  S.W. Watrous,  circa 1884.

 Photo postcard image of men picking oranges.   It's from Exeter, CA.    The message on the back of the postcard is dated 12/15/1911.

 Written on the back of this old postcard: "Gingerich Bros. Garage on Main St. in Porterville Cal. where I worked in 1921. ... V.M.Z.".        A Google Books search reveals that Porterville's Mission Garage was sold to the Gingerich brothers in 1921.
  This might actually be an image of the Mission Garage, circa 1917.   e.g. Many of these cars seem to have the early type of side-lanterns, which auto companies appear to have stopped using, by 1915. And the type of postcard paper used for this photograph was produced between 1904-1918.

Postcard image of  Visalia's Palace Hotel building, on the NE corner of Court and Main Streets.    The photo is dated, in the lower left hand corner: 11/11/1922.    It's very nice to have an exact date on the photograph!

 Postcard image of Exeter's Baptist Church,  circa 1909.     This appears to be a photograph by George Besaw.

 A a postcard image of Visalia's armory building.    Built in 1889, it also served as a theater.
It was located on the NE corner of Court and Acequia Streets.   The photographer was most likely George Besaw.    It's postmarked 10/14/1908
A close-up of the posters reveals that "Peck's Bad Boy" was playing there.

 Close up:

The date of "Friday, April 19" means the photo was most likely taken in 1907.

 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.

Photograph by Eschol M. Hammond, of Porterville.    It's an image of Porterville's  1922 Armistice Day parade.     This is the intersection of Main St. and Putnam Ave.    The Pioneer Hotel is in the background, with  Claubes' Drug Store on the hotel's first floor.    A car race on Main Street was held, as part of the celebration.    A few of the cars are visible here.    It looks like quite a few  men wore their WWI uniforms to the parade.

Close up:

From an old photo postcard.   It's postmarked "Portersville, Cal., 1911". 

 It's addressed to a Mrs. Thomas Pulford of Los Angeles.
The message written on the back of the postcard reads:   "Oct 21 -- Can you find me here?   We went thru this tunnel 1400ft on the little car.    I received your card & two packages of papers today: Thanks for sending them.       H. and I are thinking of going to Porterville this P.M.    I hope my pictures are good.   H. took this. ---- Bertha".
I'm guessing that this was the magnesite mine east of Porterville, that was owned by the Tulare Mining Company.    Several mining journals, of the period, state that this mine had a 1400 foot tunnel.    One journal, published in 1911, indicates that this tunnel was new... So I'm guessing some 'locals' were curious enough to check-out the new tunnel.

Close up:

Photo postcard, circa 1912.   Porterville's  First Congregational Church was built in 1908.   The church still stands today, with some modifications due to a fire.  i.e. The church was built with a gymnasium, auditorium and pool; these areas suffered damage from a fire in 1937; and were taken out.     

It is located on the SE corner of  Mill Ave. and 4th St.    It was added to the  National Register of Historic Places, in 1999.

An old photo postcard, circa 1910.     The photographer was Lindley Eddy.
This is an image of the Lemon Cove railroad depot with a Visalia Electric Railroad passenger car to the right.   These passenger cars were basically electric trolley cars. 

Postcard circa 1916.     This building housed Dinuba's branch of the Tulare County Library as well its  Chamber of Commerce.

Photo postcard, circa 1919.    Dr Shrodes was a physician and an inventor.

Written on the back of this old photograph: "President Harrison speaking in the Front Street Park (Tulare). About 1885.   Platform in the picture is outlined in Redwood bark.".      The date is actually April 25, 1891.    President Benjamin Harrison stopped in Tulare as part of his 1891 railroad tour of much of the United States.    The platform is said to have been a large cross section from a giant sequoia, with its bark strapped on... you can see this in the first close-up image, below.   The president apparently made a joke about this being his first actual stump speech.

Two close-up images:

There is a military unit at the right side of this close-up image.   The U.S. Army wore spiked helmets with their fancy dress uniforms during the 1880's-90's.

On the left side of this close-up, there are two Chinese gentlemen with their long queue hair braids.

A photo postcard image of the blacksmith shop owned by Thomas Jefferson Clarkson, in Exeter.  Circa 1908.
Clarkson was born in 1860.    He moved to Tulare County in 1871.   And from about 1904, he operated a general blacksmithing and agricultural repair shop in Exeter.    His listing in the 1910 city directory: "Clarkson TJ, blksmith, Pine and Filbert av".

Photo postcard by Lindley Eddy, circa 1914.   This road to Giant Forest (Sequoia National Park) has an interesting history.   The majority of the road, leading to the edge of the park, was built in the late 1880's.   That road was constructed mostly with pick-axe and shovel by the utopian socialist Kaweah Cooperative Colony.    The Colony did this in a failed attempt to set up a logging operation in the Giant Forest area.    
Fun Fact:  The General Sherman Tree  was originally named the Karl Marx Tree, by the Kaweah Colonists.
President Harrison signed a bill creating Sequoia National Park in 1890.   For several years after this, the Kaweah Colony fought unsuccessfully for the ownership of the Giant Forest area.    By 1900, the Colony's road (the only real access to the Park), had fallen into disrepair.   But by 1903, the road was repaired and was extended into the park by U.S. Cavalry buffalo soldiers.    It was these soldiers' job to protect the park, during this time period.   They were under the command of  Capt. Charles Young.   Young was only the third African American to graduate from West Point.
Starting around the time of this photo, automobiles became more common in the park.  Much of the road only allowed for one-way traffic, so specific hours were set for when traffic could move up and then down from the park.
Most of this roadway was abandoned after the opening of a new route in 1926.

An old photograph from the Visalia studio of S.W. Watrous.
On the back of the photo, someone has written: "Guy & wife Ella Rockwell".
I believe this is the wedding photograph of Lorenzo Anson Rockwell and Sarah Ellen Pennebaker, taken in 1880.   Sarah was referred to as "Miss Ella Pennebaker", in one publication from the period.
  They had one child, a boy named Guy Lionel Rockwell.  I'd guess that "Guy" was also Lorenzo's nickname.
Lorenzo worked in the Visalia area as a builder/contractor and  as a school teacher.    In 1884, he moved to Traver and opened a drug store.   He was a trustee on the Traver school board. (This was back when Traver was a boom-town).
Sadly, Ella died in 1884, at the age of 24.   Photograph of Ella's gravestone in the Visalia Public Cemetery.

Photograph by the Visalia studio of C.A. Myers, circa 1893.

Photo by E.M. Davidson of Visalia, circa 1891.

Photo circa 1897,  by Robinson & Churchman.     Photographer Ida Robinson is the earliest female professional photographer, that I know of, who worked in Tulare County.

Photo by E.M. Davidson of Visalia, circa 1891.

Photo by C.A. Myers, circa 1893.

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

I rarely see old cabinet card photographs like this, with the date as part of the studio ID.

The photographer, Charles Albert Myers, would have been 22 or 23 years old in 1891.

Photo by the Visalia studio of E.M. Davidson, circa 1888.
Photographer Ellis M. Davidson had his Visalia studio from about 1886 to 1894.   During this time,  Davidson appears to have taken a lot of outdoors photographs.  By doing this, he chronicled a lot of what was going on in Tulare County, during that period.     He has been credited with taking perhaps the most famous late 19th century photograph from this area:   The photo of the mortally wounded train robber John Sontag, at Stone Corral.

Photo by C.A. Myers, circa 1892.    From Myers' Visalia studio at  Holt Block  (the NW corner of Court and Main Streets).

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.