New Fresno County Courthouse towered over old building

Published online on Sunday, Nov. 08, 2009

Question: Was the new Fresno County Courthouse built in front of or behind the old courthouse?

-- Dennis Hart, Fresno

Answer: The new courthouse was built in front of the 91-year-old courthouse, which faced Van Ness Avenue, said local historian and author Bill Secrest Sr.

A lush park studded with tall shade trees, landscaping and broad walking paths stretched from the front steps of the old courthouse to Van Ness Avenue. A fountain around the Boy with the Leaking Boot statue stood where Mariposa Street met Van Ness.

The new eight-story courthouse opened on Feb. 14, 1966, looming over the former three-story courthouse.

The original center portion of the old courthouse was completed in 1875. Wings were built onto either side in 1893.

As the demolition process began, doors, railings, rugs and marble slabs from inside, and the cupola from atop the courthouse dome, were removed and sold at auction.

The wings of the old courthouse were torn down first. The dome crashed to the ground at 4:56 p.m. on April 7, 1966.

The Merced County Courthouse, designed by the same architect who designed Fresno's fated courthouse, today houses a museum.

Q: When was the Fresno County Sportsmen's Club built?

-- Jackie Boyajian, Fresno

A: The Fresno County Sportsmen's Club built its log cabin-style clubhouse on Lanes Road on the San Joaquin River in the early 1980s, but the club already was seven decades old by then.

Valley hunting and fishing enthusiasts founded the sporting and conservation club in 1916 near Sanger, said Susan Turner of Fresno, newsletter editor for the members-only club.

In 1957, the club bought 60 acres at Wahtoke Lake, 10 miles northeast of Reedley. The club sold that property in 1966 and bought 13 acres along the east bank of the San Joaquin River northeast of Fresno for $29,000 in 1968.

In 1981, club members began building the 7,000-square-foot clubhouse, doing most of the work themselves. Most of the logs are Tamarack pine brought from a meadow near Wishon.

Completed in 1984, the two-story clubhouse cost about $94,000 and was one of the largest log buildings in the Valley. In addition to the 50-by-80-foot main room, the building includes a smaller meeting room, bar and kitchen. A 1,000-square-foot balcony stretches across the front.

The clubhouse is rented out for weddings and events, and the Sportsmen's Club holds fundraising events that are open to the public.

Q: What is the history of the train that ran through Friant? When was it discontinued?

-- Dick Herboldshimer, Fresno

A: The Minarets and Western Railway ran from the Sugar Pine Lumber Co. mill in Pinedale and passed through Friant on its way to Central Camp in the Sierra Nevada.

Construction on the $3.7 million Minarets and Western rail line began in April 1922. About five miles of track ran from the lumber mill to the nearly 9-mile-long Southern Pacific branch line out to Friant. From Friant, more new track was laid to Central Camp. In all, about 54 miles of new train track was laid to connect the mill to the timberland where the trees were felled.

The line was built by the Warren Construction Co. of Portland, Ore., which employed about 2,000.

The first train ran in July 1923 and pulled 16 cars loaded with lumber, according to "Rails to the Minarets" by Hank Johnston.

The Sugar Pine Lumber Co. closed in November 1931 and the Southern Pacific Railroad bought the rail lines in 1935. The last tracks at Friant were removed in 1939.