So… we found a little book. It’s in the Library of Congress.
It’s called “Facts about Fresno County – California’s Marvel“.
The cover is red and looks like someone wrote “Fresno Co. Calif. Chamber of Commerce” in pencil on the cover. Inside the cover there are a few other penciled notations. Is this possibly where the L.O.C. got it?
Inside we see page one and it’s introductory paragraphs…
The text specifically mentions the Fresno County Chamber of Commerce so we’re pretty sure that is who created this. You can see the hand stamped recommendation to get free literature from The California State Board of Trade, San Francisco – so maybe they were the ones in charge of distribution of this particular pamphlet.
It is truly a wonderful story.”
We’re guessing the message directed to Visitors – “stop-over privileges” is talking to train passengers along a San Francisco to Los Angeles route.
Flipping the page we have a printed image of a street scene looking down towards the original courthouse.
You can see the Library Of Congress stamp on the back side of this page.
I don’t see any of those “horseless carriages” on the street so this could be from around 1900 or so? Any guesses?
The next page is where we start the real fun!
We have to remember the source of this book – Fresno County Chamber of Commerce – so there’s going to be a little advertising fluff in the copy.
Fresno County’s
It’s hard to fluff with numbers. Yes, Fresno County is in the center of the greater San Joaquin Valley, the center geographically of the State of California. At the time they are suggesting that the City of Fresno is 200 miles south of San Francisco and 275 above L.A. Google says that’s pretty close especially if you route through Tehachapi. Remember that the Grapevine wasn’t straightened and widened until 1933.
Soil and Climate
This part is true today. We really do have a wide variety of soils as they explain moving from the west to the east. We like that the “eastern mountain regions are always cool” – but they go on to suggest that a drive of 8 – 10 hours should get you there! Can you imagine?
The Seasons
We have 2 seasons according to them – Dry and Wet.
While were in the middle of a drought, we currently average 13 inches a year, while they are showing only 10. Days of sunshine? Currently that’s reported at above 300. Their average mean temperature is about 60? We think that might be up a little these days.
We did really enjoy the “The nights are always cool, insuring a good rest with splendid recuperative effect” part.
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