Remember When | July: Harlow Fire, Raley’s goes up, volleyball club competes nationally

Compiled from the archives of the Fresno Flats Research Library and the Sierra Star, covering news and events from the month of July.

60 Years Ago

Rising costs — Increased postal rates and higher printing costs have necessitated an increase in the subscription rate of the Sierra Star to $3.50 per year from the $3.00 rate that has been in effect since the paper’s inception. Single copies will continue to sell for 10 cents.

At the movies — Showing at the Ponderosa Pines Theater at Bass Lake: Friday and Saturday – The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; Sunday and Monday – Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds in The Rat Race; Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday – Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.

‘One of the worst fires’ — While firefighters still battled to keep the disastrous Harlow Fire, which had already engulfed the towns of Nipinnawasee and Ahwahnee, from eating its way into Oakhurst, residents of the stricken communities met to map plans for getting aid to the unfortunate and lay the foundation for rebuilding on the ashes of one of the worst fires in the history of the state. The blaze, which originated in Mariposa County, raged through Nipinnawasee Tuesday evening leaving a lone dwelling and the school standing, before descending on Ahwahnee and leveling most of the homes and businesses. Then, with incredible speed, the flames raced toward Oakhurst and sent out fiery prongs into Coarsegold and north toward Bass Lake and Fish Camp.

50 Years Ago

Revisiting epic climb — Warren Harding, former Sacramento resident now living in Coarsegold, will be the guest speaker at the Sierra Oakhurst Lions club meeting next Wednesday. Harding, known as the pioneer of big wall climbing, is currently working with his friend, Rodger Derryberry, of Fresno, a noted ice climber. Derryberry constructed special equipment which Harding used in his 27-day epic climb of the Wall of the Early Morning Light on El Capitan in November 1970. The two recently returned from a lecture tour of the major universities and colleges on the East Coast.

Preacher’s topic — Taking as his topic the title of a pop song hit, Dr. W. B. Uphold will preach at the Community Church of Oakhurst next Sunday on the subject, “Look What They’ve Done to My Song, Mom.”

Cattle drives — Most of the cattlemen have completed the first leg of their journey to the high country by passing through the Bass Lake Corrals. Topping, Anderson and Hershfeldt are now into mountain country with their herds and Bohna, to our knowledge, has not gone through yet.

40 Years Ago

Expensive tree — LDG Lumber Enterprise of Ahwahnee has purchased a giant fallen sequioa tree from the Mountain Home Safe Forest of eastern Tulare County and will pay the higest price ever paid for a single tree on the forest. At $137 for each 1,000 board feet, the tree is expected to contain 95,000 board feet. The tree, which fell in the winter of 1979, is 11 feet in diameter and 200 feet tall. Total price of the tree was over $13,000.

Building Raley’s — Over 25,000 blocks were used to construct the walls of the Raley’s Supermarket which is being built at the Golden Oak Village shopping center on the corner of Highway 49 and 41 in Oakhurst. The 56,000-square foot store will be open by the end of October.

30 Years Ago

National ranking — Yosemite Volleyball Club, member of the United States Volleyball Club Association, returned home from the Junior Olympic Volleyball Championships in Tampa Bay, Florida, ranked as the 11th best team in the nation. Four victories and two defeats against the best teams in the country gave the small town winners something to boast about.

Byway dedication — Some 200 people attended the dedication of the Sierra Vista National Scenic Byway and the Jessie Blakey Ross cabin, which was held in connection with the US Forest Service’s 100th anniversary at the Clearwater Station above North Fork.

State first — The Wassama Roundhouse in Ahwahnee will be recognized as the first building to achieve State Historical Landmark status in Madera County and, also, the first Native American structure in the state to be so named, in a ceremony on Saturday, July 13.

This story was originally published July 1, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Remember When | July: Harlow Fire, Raley’s goes up, volleyball club competes nationally."