Question: What became of the effort years ago to form Ponderosa County in the Fresno County foothills?

Question: Who was Rosie the Riveter modeled after? A friend is certain it was his grandmother who lived in Fresno.

Question: I've noticed that sections of concrete have been installed in front of several bus stops around Fresno. What are they for?

Question: What is the history of Lost Lake Park?

Question: I own a piece from one of Sam Naman's automated exhibits from the Big Fresno Fair. What years were they displayed, and did he do all the work himself?

Columnist Paula Lloyd offers the history of the three-story Hoblitt Hotel, built in 1902 in what is now Old Town Clovis. The third story was destroyed by fire in 1927. Today, the ground floor houses the Victoria Rose Restaurant. The Clovis Community Development Agency has offices upstairs.

strong>Question: What is the history of the church building at Los Angeles and E streets?

-- Tim Thiesen, Dinuba

Question: What is the history of the Mexican Baptist Church in Chinatown? When I was young, I went there with my mother.

Question: What is the history of Baskin's Auto Upholstery in downtown Fresno?

Question: In the 1940s, my late cousin, Mike Pentimone, came to Fresno from New Jersey and opened the Italian Kitchen at Palm and Olive avenues. He owned it for a only few years before moving back home, but the family has always believed it was the first

Question: Did the late Fresno songwriter Fred Miller ever own Miller Sheet Music in Fresno?

Question: How did Gettysburg Avenue get its name and why is there such an interest in Civil War re-enactments in Fresno?

Question: Who were Leo Politi and James Gillis, for whom two Fresno County branch libraries were named? I don't think people know much about them.

Question: What is the history of Lauck's Bakery?

Question: I grew up in Sanger and had never heard of the Hockett-Bristol-Cowan Music Co., but I wonder if Bristol could have been a relation. Who was he?

Question: I am helping to research the history of my church, Fresno First Baptist Church, which will celebrate its 130th anniversary next year. Was it one of Fresno's first churches?

Question: What is the history of The Shack youth center?

A reader owns a token from Fresno City Lines and wants to know the story behind it. Ask Me columnist Paula Lloyd says fares for the bus system -- which replaced the city's streetcars -- once were five cents a ride, but were reduced to three cents in 1939.

Question: I grew up in Fresno and recently found copies of The Radio Bee among some family papers. What is the history of this paper?

Question: What is the history of the Fresno Art Museum?

A reader from Clovis asks: Who made the sculptures at Fresno Chaffee Zoo? The short answer: More than one artist. Zoo staff is currently cataloging its sculptures, which include a hippo, a rhino and a Komodo dragon.

When the six-story Rowell Building was built at Tulare and K (later Van Ness) streets, it was the tallest building in Fresno and the first with steel framing.

Question: Are there any pictures of the original Chester Rowell Elementary School? I attended there in the early 1960s. It was a beautiful two-story brick building heated by radiators. The kindergarten room even had a fireplace.

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