Demolished pillar in historic Fresno High neighborhood no longer a mystery

When an alleged drunken driver took out an iconic landmark in the Fresno High neighborhood, many wondered why the 10-foot tall stone and brick pillar was built in the first place.

The pillar at Palm and Simpson avenues has stood in the historic central Fresno neighborhood for decades and was one of several that have survived over the years. Was it a boundary marker, was it part of the city’s original trolley system, or was it some form of elaborate tramp art?

Whatever it was, it was reduced to rubble on Dec. 18 when a 41-year-old male driver traveling southbound on Palm Ave from Shields Ave, struck a car headed north. The male driver suffered minor injuries, and the driver of the other vehicle suffered a broken clavicle. They were transported to the hospital to be treated.

The driver who caused the destruction, was found to be under the influence of a controlled substance and was arrested for felony driving under the influence, causing injury. He was booked into Fresno County Jail after being seen at the hospital, said Fresno Police Lt. Larry Bowlan.

Longtime residents who came across the scene of broken glass, twisted metal and river rock strewn across the road, lamented the loss of the pillar. They knew its history and what it has meant to the neighborhood.

“They are symbolic of this neighborhood, and they speak to a time when these types of architectural pieces defined a neighborhood,” said resident Lisa Schumacher.

The pillars, or markers, were built in the 1920s to designate the boundaries of some of Fresno’s earliest housing developments.

Jason Willard, with the Fresno County Library’s Heritage Center, found maps showing the Fresno High-area markers were used to let potential homeowners know they were in the Boulevard Gardens subdivision.

Former Fresno Bee artist Doug Hansen was also familiar with the markers and illustrated them in his homage to Fresno, called the “Fresno Sketchbook, describing them as “Craftsman-style, rubble construction.”

The Fresno High School neighborhood wasn’t the only area with these types of boundary markers. Other areas included the Hazelwood Division at Ventura and Hazelwood Boulevard and the Boyd Division that had two pillars flanking Boyd Avenue on the south side of Kings Canyon Road near the fairgrounds.

Although the markers no longer have a purpose, neighbors in the Fresno High area want the marker rebuilt. So does Fresno City Councilmember Annalisa Perea, who has asked the Public Works Department for an estimate of what it will cost to recreate the pillar.

Perea and her staff moved quickly to recover the debris from the pillar in hopes it might be used in the reconstruction.

“We haven’t heard back from the public works department yet on the cost to rebuild, but the plan is still to get it done,” Perea said.