Sunday, Mar. 03, 2013 | 08:15 AM
Question: What is the history of Lost Lake Park?
-- Richard Herboldshimer, Fresno
Answer: The 48-acre Lost Lake was created when rock and sand were removed from the San Joaquin River during construction of Friant Dam, built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation between 1940 and 1942.
In 1956, Fresno County bought 248 acres of land around the lake from the federal government for $12,520 to create a recreation area for fishing and picnicking.
Picnic tables were placed in the park the next year and people began using the area even though the only way in was over a nearly one-mile-long bumpy dirt road.
In 1960, better access roads and parking, a boat launching area, more picnic tables, drinking water and toilets were installed. The state contributed $52,000 to the work.
The park covered 323 acres by the time it was dedicated in 1961.
In March 1962, inmates from the Fresno County Honor Farm built barbecue pits and picnic tables out of local rock and wood for the spring and summer recreation season. Other improvements included planting 50 trees, adding to 100 trees previously planted, and improving roads and paths.
Q: What is the history of Empire School?
-- Wanda Hall, Fresno
A: According to a dissertation written by John Allen Dow in 1967 titled "History of Public School Organization and Administration in Fresno County, California," the Empire School District was the oldest district in the Kerman High School area.
It was organized on Feb. 15, 1894, about four miles northeast by several Italian families from San Francisco who settled in the area and grew wine grapes on the Empire Ranch.
The first teacher at Empire School was Azelia Winchester. Early school district trustees included H.M. Kamsburg, F.J. Williams and F.H. Snyder.
In 1899, Jacob Wolfe of Rolinda was the school board's clerk. J.W. Shuey and Williams were listed as trustees.
According to district records, the school was taught by one teacher in any given year, so it's likely that Empire was a typical one-room school house in its early years.
Other early day teachers were Grace A. Wilson, 1899; Martha Taylor, 1900; Beatrice Jamison, 1901 and 1903; Blanche Mitchell, 1902; and Mary Hendricks, who taught 26 children from 1904-06.
When Empire School closed in 1951, it had an average attendance of 104 students and an assessed valuation of $1.5 million. The principal was Delbert Anderson and board members included Shuey and Clyde Jones.
A merger with another rural district created the Sun Empire School District in 1952.
"When my father, Jerome A. Thormann, M.D., finished his residency at the old Fresno County Hospital, he took an office in the Wishon Building for the time needed to wait for his new office [in the Physicians Building] at Fresno and P streets," Thormann wrote.
"His was the very corner office where he practiced as a family physician for more than 30 years. He loved the solarium and the pond as did his many patients. I remember doctors Maupin, Collins and Vanderburgh being there."
Thormann said the building was in an excellent location for doctors' offices because it was across the street from the former Burnett Sanitarium, the forerunner of Community Regional Medical Center.
