Longtime Fresno residents can likely rattle off a list of the city’s historic neighborhoods, from Huntington Boulevard to the Tower District. But what about Maltermoro? Does that ring a bell? Today on KVPR’s Central Valley Roots, a look at one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods, which you know today as Sunnyside.
Southeast Fresno’s history is older than the city itself. It was here that A. Y. Easterby started his Banner Ranch in 1871. He found success by irrigating his wheat fields with water from the Kings River, thanks to a canal built by Moses Church. The crop caught the attention of Leland Stanford, who selected the townsite that would become Fresno a few miles to the west.
But Easterby wasn’t alone with his agricultural investments in Southeast Fresno. In 1873 Francis Eisen planted a vineyard near Fancher Creek and Clovis Avenue that would mark the start of California’s raisin industry. And nearby, George Malter established the massive St. George Vineyard, winery and distillery complex near Tulare Street and Clovis Avenue. He dubbed it Maltermoro. It was so large that it had its own post office from 1894 till 1913. But the name Maltermoro didn’t stick, and eventually the area became Sunnyside. Here’s how it happened.
In 1890, farmer William Oothout planted his Sunnyside Vineyard at Kings Canyon and Clovis Avenue, and had great success. In 1911 a group bought a portion of the vineyard to construct a golf course, and Oothout’s former home served as the original clubhouse. The building was destroyed in a fire and later replaced. You know the golf course today as the Sunnyside Country Club, which has lent its name to the entire neighborhood, one of the oldest in Fresno.
