A Timeline of Tulare County Treasures
A Timeline of Tulare County Treasures
Follow the history of conservation in Tulare County by exploring the timeline below.
(Note: The entries in italics outline significant historic events that provide context for the story of conservation in Tulare County.)
1980 The Temporary Detention Camps for Japanese Americans – Tulare Assembly Center (Tulare County Fairgrounds, Tulare) are designated a California Historical Landmark (November 15, 1980).
1981 The Foothill Growth Management Plan is adopted by Tulare County.
1982 The C. A. Elster Building (Springville, CA 190 and Tule River Dr.) is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (March 25, 1982).
1982 The Bank of Italy Building (now Bank of the Sierra, 128 E. Main St., Visalia) is listed on National Register of Historic Places (April 1, 1982).
1982 The Blue Ridge National Wildlife Refuge (897 acres) is established by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect critical habitat for the endangered California condor; NOTE: this Refuge is currently closed to public access.
1983 The California Fish and Game Commission designates 5,100 acres in southwestern Tulare County as the Allensworth Ecological Reserve.
1983 Kaweah Oaks Preserve is established in February, when Myrtle Davis Franklin sells 322 acres of oak woodland to The Nature Conservancy (TNC). Citizens of Tulare and Kings Counties raise approximately $100,000 through community donations to help TNC pay for the land.
1983 The Orosi-Cutler Branch Library (12662 Ave. 416) is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (August 25, 1983).
1984 The Domeland Wilderness in southeastern Tualre County is enlarged by 32,000 acres for a total of 94,7000 acres when President Ronald Reagan signs the California Wilderness Act.
1984 The 10,500+ acre Jennie Lakes Wilderness is established in Sequoia National Forest on September 28, 1984, when President Ronald Reagan signs the California Wilderness Act.
1984 The 8000,000+ acre Sequoia-Kings Canyon Wilderness is established on September 28, 1984, when President Ronald Reagan signs the California Wilderness Act.
1984 The 62,700 South Sierra Wilderness is established in eastern Tulare County on September 28, 1984, when President Ronald Reagan signs he California Wilderness Act.
1985 The Porterville Main U.S. Post Office (65 W. Mill Ave.) is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (January 11, 1985).
1985 The Visalia Town Center Station U.S. Post Office (11 W. Acequia St.) is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (January 11, 1985).
1986 The U.S. Department of Interior designates Pixley Vernal Pools Preserve as a National Natural Landmark.
1987 The Zalud House Museum in Porterville is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (March 31, 1987).
1990 The Exeter Carnegie Library (now the Exeter Senior Center, 309 S. E St.) is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (December 10, 1990).
1991 The Pogue Hotel (now the Lemon Cove Women’s Club, 32792 Sierra Dr.) in Lemoncove is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
1992 The Archaeological Conservancy purchases and sets aside 20 acres of the Exeter Rocky Hill Site as a permanent archaeological preserve. This preserve can be visited only by making prior arrangements with the Archaeological Conservancy
1993 Ollie Craig sells to the Bureau of Land Management 1,000 acres of her ranch land near Three Rivers to become part of what is now the Case Mountain Extensive Recreation and Management Area and the Kaweah Area of Critical Environmental Concern.
1994 The Hawkins family donates 110 acres of Lewis Hill, north of Porterville, to the Kern River Research Center to protect rare native wildflowers; in 2000 the title is transferred to the Tule Oaks Land Trust, which later merges with two other land trusts into what is now Sequoia Riverlands Trust.
1994 The California Desert Protection Act of 1994 establishes the 13,140-acre Chimney Peak Wilderness in southeast Tulare County (October 31, 1994).
1994 The California Desert Protection Act of 1994 establishes the 73,800 Owens Peak Wilderness in southeastern Tulare County (October 31, 1994).
1994 The California Desert Protection Act of 1994 establishes the 51,900 acre Sacatar Trail Wilderness in southeastern Tulare County (October 31, 1994).
1996 Wilsonia (Kings Canyon National Park; near Grant Grove) is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (March 14, 1996).
1997 Management of Pixley Vernal Pools Preserve is transferred to the Center for Natural Lands Management.
1998 Elli Norris protects Circle J-Norris Ranch with the first of three conservation easements (completed in 2003, covering approximately 608 acres).
1998 The Nature Conservancy gives the Kaweah Oaks Preserve to the Four Creeks Land Trust (FCLT later merged with two other land trusts into what became Sequoia Riverlands Trust).
1998 Gary Adest and Barbara Brydolf purchase 722-acre River Ridge Ranch and protect it with a conservation easement, held by Sequoia Riverlands Trust in partnership with State of California Wildlife Conservation Board, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The Conservation Fund, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; the working ranch is opened to the public in 2000.
1999 Buck Rock Fire Lookout (southeast of General Grant Village and Wilsonia, near the northern boundary of Tulare County) is re-established as a primary location for fire detection on the Sequoia National Forest/Giant Sequoia National Monument, with the help of the Buck Rock Foundation, a non-profit “dedicated to preserving the tradition of forest fire lookouts and other historically significant buildings”; Buck Rock has been nominated for the National Register of Historic Places.
1999 Atwell Island Land Retirement Demonstration Site (now Atwell Recreation Area/Atwell Island Restoration Project) is established via the Central Valley PVIA Land Retirement Program; managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
1999 The First Congregational Church of Porterville (165 E. Mill St.) is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (January 5, 1999).
1999 Tulare Union High School Auditorium (755 E. Tulare Ave.) Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (December 17, 1999).
