It was one of the biggest factors in driving Fresno’s northward growth. But how did Fresno State wind up moving from the Tower District to the corner of Shaw and Cedar Avenues? It’s a story full of twists and turns, today on KVPR’s Central Valley Roots.
Fresno State’s student body was growing following World War II, and the limitations of the old campus in the Tower District became clear. In 1947, a faculty committee began studying expansion. Some favored a site on the San Joaquin River. Other options included land near the Fresno Air Terminal, and a site near First and Shields Avenue. Ultimately, the state settled on a site at Blackstone and Shields Avenue: the old Markarian Fig Gardens.
The state purchased the 160 acre farm, and things began moving quickly. A group of faculty members bought land near the campus for a new subdivision, and a home was even constructed for the University’s new President Arnold Joyal, on Fresno Street.
But plans changed. In 1949, the state authorized the creation of an agriculture school at Fresno State. The University’s Foundation purchased land at Shaw and Cedar Avenues for the ag school but a debate quickly emerged. Should the two campuses be separate? Or should they share a site?
For a while, the University entertained the idea of adding land for the farm near the Blackstone location, but that was ultimately ruled out. By 1950, the state approved consolidating the main campus and the agriculture school at the roughly 800 acre Shaw Avenue site.
In October 1950, California Governor and future Chief Justice of the United States Earl Warren presided over a groundbreaking for the new campus. As for the site on Blackstone? The state sold the land to a developer, and the site became Manchester Center.
