Central Valley Roots

Nestled close the Sierra foothills in Tulare County, Porterville began as a ferry crossing on the Tule River.

Dixon's landscape paintings ranged in styles from impressionism to angular modernism, all while capturing the beauty of the Southwestern landscape.

The grand hotel has been a Yosemite Valley icon since 1927, and has hosted presidents and royalty.

Barry McGuire and Terry Talbot had their own big hits during the anti-war movement, before they both moved to Fresno and shifted their careers into worship music.

Fresno-area artist Stan Bitters designed the collection of glazed ceramic reliefs starting in 1969.

Fig Garden Village was built in the "Town and County" style in the 1950s using reclaimed timbers, bricks and an eclectic design that has made it popular for close to 70 years.

This gold country town was built around a central plaza, in the Mexican tradition.

Countless pilots trained at Mefford Field during World War II, and a vintage B-17 nearby is a popular roadside attraction on Highway 99.

Patterned after LA's Original Farmer's Market, it was a Fresno landmark from the 1940s through the 1990s.

The neighborhood is much older than its namesake theater, which was built in 1939 in Fresno's first "streetcar suburb."

Look in older parts of Fresno, Bakersfield and other cities, and you're likely to find a Craftsman-style bungalow.

North American Aviation established a plant at the Fresno Air Terminal to rebuild F-86 Sabrejets returning from the Korean War for the U.S. Air Force.

The Streamline Moderne-style building was built in 1940, and once housed a giant neon Coca-Cola sign on its roof.

The historic courthouse in Snelling is the oldest in Merced County.

Fresno's Hughes Hotel was destroyed on July 10, 1953, and numerous other buildings were damaged in an arson spree that remains unsolved to this day.

Before Rose Ann Vuich was elected in 1976, the California State Senate was "male, pale and stale."

Actor Jack Haley was the developer behind several Madera-area projects, including the Madera Ranchos.

The Bonnadelle Ranchos development was built on the site of a former World War II bombing range.

Decommissioned in the 1960s, U.S. Route 466 traveled on portions of today's Highways 58, 99, 46 and 41, from Barstow to Morro Bay.

A red International Harvester from Fresno sits in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

The unique geography of the Orange Cove area makes it an ideal place to grow citrus trees.

Historians don't agree on how the town of Dinuba got its name.

Duke Ellington's song "Skin Deep" was recorded in 1952 at Fresno's Rainbow Ballroom.

Fresno's Frank Thomas was instrumental in bringing Walt Disney's most famous animated features to life.

This Fresno County foothill town got its name through a tortured tale of mispronunciation.

Edward Fitzgerald Beale brought news of the discovery of gold in California to Washington, D.C., in the process winning a high-stakes clandestine race across the continent.

This creek turned irrigation canal is named for early Fresno-area rancher John Fancher.

This man-made reservoir on the edge of the UC Merced campus has a history that takes back to the 1880s.

An acclaimed engineer and the first woman licensed to practice architecture in California, Julia Morgan also designed several Fresno-area buildings.

The grand hotel stood in downtown Bakersfield from 1926-1970.

The 1991 environmental art exhibit in Kern County and Japan captivated the art world.

Avenal was born with an epic oil discovery, but has kept evolving over the last century.

Dusy was a farmer, inventor, oil man, photographer, and was an influential force in Fresno County's early years.

The world's first bank-issued credit card, today known as VISA, debuted in Fresno, CA on September 18, 1958.

The base was a key part of the Cold War, as the training site for B-52 crews for the Strategic Air Command.

Funded by FDR's Public Works Administration, the Fresno County Hall of Records opened in 1937. Today it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Since 1924, the City of Fresno has run this rustic camp in the Sierra National Forest, east of Fresno.

Today all that remains of the schoolhouse is a red brick archway at Shephard and Minnewawa Avenues in Clovis. The building was destroyed in a fire in 1990.

Water diversions from the Kings River made Fresno's early growth possible. When a court case upended those water rights, developer Edward B. Perrin bought the Laguna de Tache ranch, and its water.

This Mexican-era land grant along the Kings River is an important chapter in the history of the Central Valley.

Located near present-day Laton, Kingston was one of the earliest communities in the region.

From World War II to the Cold War, the Delano facility was a key component in sending America's message overseas.

This ornate landmark in downtown Fresno has been vacant for around 50 years.

Fowler developed a vibrant African American community beginning in the late 1800s thanks to one remarkable woman: Julia Bell.

The first non-native settlers in the Bakersfield area were from Mexico, in the area known as Rio Bravo, or Old Panama.

Archibald Brabazon Sparrow Acheson, the 4th Earl of Gosford, was a member of the British House of Lords and played an important role in the coronation of Edward the VII in 1901. He also owned a large farm near Bakersfield.

Yamato Colony near Livingston was founded by and for Japanese American farmers.

Located near the Grapevine in Kern County, this pueblo became a rancho in the Mexican-era and is the oldest Western settlement in the southern San Joaquin Valley.

County islands are unincorporated areas surrounded by land that is part of an incorporated city. These "islands" often lack city-level infrastructure and services.

Today's Stockdale Country Club began as the Tevis family estate, and was named for a Tevis relative, Sir Edmund Stockdale, the Lord Mayor of London.