Question: On a recent morning walk, I noticed a large, two-story brick house on West Princeton Avenue east of Fruit Avenue. It seems out of place with the rest of the neighborhood. What is its history?
-- Olivia Poole, Fresno
Answer: The house, built in 1914, stands out because it predates other homes in the neighborhood. As late as 1945, there were no other buildings between the house and the original Saint Agnes Hospital at Fruit and Floradora avenues.
The house was built by Eugene F. Main, owner of Fresno Brick and Tile Co., who also built several homes and public buildings in Fresno. Main made the red bricks for his own nine-room Colonial Revival-style house in the backyard.
Main was born in Sioux City, Iowa, in 1867 and later moved to Missouri. At the age of 20, he began spending the winters in Fresno, working as a brick maker and masonary contractor.
Eugene F. Main, owner of Fresno Brick and Tile Co., built his home at 520 W. Princeton Ave. in 1914. Main made bricks for the house in his backyard.
Main and his brother, William, worked on the Fresno Water Tower, built in 1894. Eugene Main also worked on Fresno's original city hall, the Fulton Hotel, the Temple Bar block and the Rehorn house -- now an office at 1050 S St.
Main settled permanently in Fresno in 1901.
The Main home's original address was 2805 N. Fruit Ave. But the Fruit Avenue frontage was sold when the area developed and the address was changed to 520 W. Princeton Ave.
Main also grew 20 acres of peaches on Roeding Avenue and built several packing houses and warehouses in the Valley.
Main and his wife, Viola, had eight children. Their former home is listed on Fresno's Local Register of Historic Resources.
Q: I attended Centennial Elementary School and would like to know when it opened and why was it named Centennial.
-- Matt Sousa-Wynn, Fresno
A: Centennial Elementary School opened in 1957 and was named in honor of Fresno County's 100th year. The school's mascot is the Gold Miners.
The California Legislature approved the formation of Fresno County on April 19, 1856. The city of Fresno celebrated the county's centennial with the Century of Progress parade through downtown on April 21, 1956.
Q: What became of Evening in Paris perfume? I remember it from the 1950s.
-- Connie Zeno, Fresno
A: Evening in Paris perfume still can be found on the Internet, but the perfume being sold today is a new formulation from the 1920s original.
Perfumer Ernest Beaux created Evening in Paris sometime between 1927 and 1929 for the French cosmetic and fragrance company Bourjois.
The original formula smelled like powder scented with violets, roses and carnations. There also were notes of tilleul, clover, lilac, bergamot, jasmine, vetiver and styrax.
Packaged in a cobalt blue and silver bottle, Evening in Paris was first released in the U.S. and later marketed in France as Soir de Paris.
The "sparkling floral" fragrance quickly became a favorite. Advertisements picturing the Eiffel Tower and the Paris skyline created such a strong connection to Paris that tourists bought the perfume there, even though it was made in the U.S.
Bourjois discontinued Evening in Paris in 1969, but in 1991 commissioned perfumers Jacques Polge and Francois Demachy to make a more modern scent.
Marketed as Soir de Paris, the new formula contains notes of apricot, bergamot, peach, violet, rose, heliotrope, jasmine, lily of the valley, orris and ylang- ylang.
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