Central Valley Roots
KVPR's Central Valley Roots explores the history, people and places of Central California. Discover something new about our region, past and present, with each episode. From Fresno and Bakersfield, to Visalia and Merced, the Central Valley is full of rich stories that make the place we call home special. Send us your question about local history or places to roots@kvpr.org and we might answer it in a future episode. Hear the series on the radio weekdays at 5:06 a.m., 9:04 a.m. and 5:32 p.m. or listen to our podcast.
Latest Episodes
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The mountain has history that includes mining, ranching and serving as a fire lookout. -
Downtown Fresno's Fulton Mall was just one year old when plans for the indoor Fashion Fair shopping mall in North Fresno went public in 1965. -
Kern County isn't the only one to claim the title, which has been in use for close 90 years. -
This historic Bakersfield hotel was reborn in 2010, and has a colorful history filled with Hollywood celebrities and an eccentric owner who once pointed a "missile" at city hall. -
From the Greenhorn Mountains east of Delano to Famoso along Highway 99, Poso Creek has been an important part of Kern County history. -
Four teachers founded Fresno's Hedgerow Vineyard, and in 1878 were among the first to pack and ship raisins from Fresno. -
Francis Eisen's first raisin crop came by accident, after a heat wave left his Muscat grapes dried on the vine in 1877. -
Second-born sons of the British aristocracy, who often ran afoul of Victorian-era social standards, known as "remittance men," were among those recruited to settle Kern County's Rosedale Colony. -
The Pacific Southwest Building was intended to be unsurpassed by any bank building on the West Coast. -
In the span of 50 years, Fresno went from a ramshackle frontier town to hosting a hi-rise designed to rival any other banking building on the West Coast.
