Browse Items (6234 total)

Fresno skyline in the early 1920s as viewed probably atop the courthouse looking west down Mariposa Street. The three major buildings in the photo viewed left to right are the ten story Griffith-McKenzie/Helm Building (built in 1914) at 1111 Fulton…

The Fresno Memorial Auditorium located at 2425 Fresno Street was constructed between 1935 and 1936 with a dedication on 31th, December 1936. Designed by Allied Architects of Fresno, a Depression-era consortium of architects. The building's Art Deco…

Winter conditions at possibly a construction camp of the Big Creek Hydroelectric Project begun in 1910 in the remote canyons of California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. By 1920 Big Creek was a construction town of 5,200 workers spread over thirty-two…

Intersection of 4th and C streets in Coalinga, California, after a winter storm on 25 January 1914. The headline of the 26 January 1914 Fresno Morning Republican read "Cloudburst at Fresno, Citizens Guard Levees, River Bottom Danger." The Kings River…

Time delay image showing an evening street scene in Coalinga, California. Visible in the photo is the Bank of Coalinga. The 1910 city directory lists the bank's address as 201 5th street. Thus this photo was taken from the middle of 5th Street…

The Coalinga Fiesta Parade dated 10, May 1911 as seen from the corner of 5th Street and E in Coalinga. A float with women riders is in the center of the photograph while people in automobiles, on horseback, and on foot are viewing the activity. In…

A 1913 view of Coalinga and the surrounding oil derricks. The town of Coalinga originally started in the late 1800's when coal was discovered in the foothills. The market for coal eventually dropped when oil was discovered and Coalinga changed into…

The Silver Tip oil well just outside of Coalinga, California. The well blew in with the greatest gusher known in California at that time. The oil flow was estimated at 10,000 - 20,000 barrels a day. The roar of the well could be clearly heard in the…

Photo of an automobile parked in front of the ticket office of the Coalinga Motor Car Company Auto Stage Line. The 1910 Coalinga city directory gives the address as 168 5th Street and lists Mr. Henry T. Chrisman as the firm's president and manager.…

Electrical generators located inside Power House Number 3, part of California Edison's Big Creek Project in the Sierra mountains. Hailed by the press as "the Electrical Giant of the West" for its then 99,000 kilowatts of rated capacity made it the…