Question: What can you tell me about architect Julia Morgan, who designed the YWCA residence hall in downtown Fresno?

-- Jeanette Jurkovich, Fresno

Answer: The late Julia Morgan -- famed for designing Hearst Castle -- also designed two residence halls and a "hospitality center" in Fresno for the YWCA.

All three structures date from the 1920s and still stand.

The single-story Arts and Crafts-inspired hospitality center was built on the 1500 block of San Diego Avenue in 1920 but was moved to 847 Waterman Ave. in 1947. The original wood shingle siding was covered with stucco in 1999.

Although Morgan's name isn't on any of the plans for the center, its design is attributed to her, according to Karana Hattersley-Drayton, historic preservation projects manager for the city of Fresno. Morgan, the official architect for the YWCA in the West at the time, designed the local residence halls a few years later and the hospitality center's architecture is consistent with her work.

Today the building houses two churches.

One of the residence halls is much the same as when it was built in 1922 and retains Morgan's original design features.

The other, completed in 1924, was heavily remodeled for offices in 1964, including removing the third story.

Morgan graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1894 with a degree in engineering. She was the first female student admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and became the first woman to graduate from the prestigious school with a degree in architecture.

The three Fresno buildings are among nearly 800 public buildings and homes she designed in California, including rebuilding the Fairmont Hotel -- damaged in the 1906 earthquake -- in her native San Francisco.

Morgan is best known for designing Hearst Castle in San Simeon for William Randolph Hearst between 1919 and 1937, as well as his Los Angeles Examiner newspaper offices and other buildings.

Morgan died in 1957 at age 85.

Q: I graduated from Pomona Grammar School in 1949. What became of the school building?

-- Wilma Philley, Kingsburg

A: After Pomona Grammar School closed in 1952, the school building was bought by St. Helen's Catholic School and moved to its campus on Belmont Avenue. The building was later moved to Easton and used by St. Jude's Catholic Church.

The Pomona school was organized in 1889 and was at 1765 Central Ave. between Fruit and West. The school was in the Central California Colony southwest of Fresno, an agricultural area founded by Bernard Marks and S.W. Chapman in 1875.

Students walked across a wood bridge spanning an irrigation ditch to get to the one-story wood-frame building. After a second story was added, the first through fourth grades met downstairs and the fifth through eighth grades were upstairs.

In 1922, the original school was torn down and a three-room school was built. Students walked or rode bicycles to school. There was no cafeteria, so students brought their lunches. The baseball, volleyball and basketball teams played against teams from schools in the Manning, Orange Center and Perrin colonies.

Remnants of the bridge foundation still can be seen at the field where the school stood.

More about Chester Rowell school: After the answer to a question about Chester Rowell Elementary School ran on Jan. 16, S.J. Davidian of Fresno emailed his memories of attending school there, beginning in 1932.

"I wonder if anyone remembers the principal, Mrs. Borden, an 'older' woman who ruled the school with an iron hand," Davidian wrote. "Before the electric clocks were installed, she would stand out in front with a large bell in her hand and ring it vigorously to announce that it was time for school to begin. I'll never forget it."