The City of Clovis is named after Fresno County wheat baron Clovis Cole. But while the prominent farmer lent his name to the town, he wasn’t the city’s founder. Today on KVPR’s Central Valley Roots, the story of Marcus Pollasky, and the curious saga of the San Joaquin Valley Railroad.
The early 1890s were boom years here in the Central Valley. So when a smooth talking, railroad promoter from Michigan showed up in Fresno with plans to build a transcontinental railroad over the Sierra, he got a lot of attention. His name was Marcus Pollasky. His plan drew prominent local investors like Thomas Hughes and Fulton G. Berry. Pollasky positioned his venture as independent from the powerful Southern Pacific Railroad.
Construction on Pollasky's San Joaquin Valley Railroad began in 1891. It extended east from Fresno down Tulare Street, before heading north at Clovis Avenue, and eventually all the way to the San Joaquin River. The new railroad included stops at the Tarpey Vineyard and at the new townsite of Clovis. The city was founded as a township in 1891 by Pollasky next to land owned by Cole. A town in Northern California was already named "Cole" so the new town took the wheat farmer's first name.
But with construction underway, some people began to question if Pollasky was operating on the up and up. The story goes that a keen-eyed observer noticed the initials "SP" on Pollasky’s construction equipment. Pollasky responded they were borrowed from his brother Sam. But the incident only fueled speculation that Pollasky was an agent of the Southern Pacific.
By November, the tracks had reached the San Joaquin River and the sleepy town of Hamptonville. Pollasky celebrated by throwing a huge barbeque for the community and renamed the town Pollasky. But despite the big celebration, construction on the San Joaquin Valley Railroad stopped there. The company collapsed and went bankrupt amid the Panic of 1893.
After the bankruptcy, the Southern Pacific bought up the railroad’s assets and went on to operate the line to Clovis and Pollasky, which was later renamed Friant. As for Pollasky, there is evidence that he was working in concert with the SP all along. He left Fresno disgraced, with some calling him a swindler.
As for Clovis, the town became home of the Fresno Flume and Lumber Company, which used a flume and Pollasky’s railroad to ship lumber across the state and country. Clovis incorporated as a city in 1912. You'll still find Pollasky Avenue in Old Town Clovis to this day.
