The newest addition to Arcadia Publishing’s “Images of America” series is Tulare from local author Sésar A. Carreño. The book, released on Monday, boasts more than 200 vintage images of the early days of Tulare.
Tulare was originally founded by the Southern Pacific Railroad as the terminal for its southern division. The railroad billed Tulare as the future county seat, but in 1891, Southern Pacific moved its roundhouse and machine shops to Bakersfield, and division headquarters to Fresno. In spite of this, Tulare managed to reinvent itself from a rough-and-tumble frontier town to an agricultural bedroom community. This book showcases some of Tulare’s images from the 1880s up until today, capturing its development from railroad town to the modern era.
Highlights of Tulare include rarely seen images, the majority of which were donated by the Visalia Branch of the Tulare County Library, stories and scenes of historical events, and tales of early Tulare pioneers.
Carreño, who has always had a great interest in local history and California history, is a resident of Tulare and currently teaches eighth grade at Earlimart Middle School, and in the evenings at Tulare Adult School and Sierra Vista High School.
He graduated in 1993 from Los Angeles Pierce College in Woodland Hills, and in 1995, he received his bachelor’s degree from California State University. He attended UCLA and CSUN for his teacher’s preparation program. In the fall of 2006, he received his master’s in education from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.
Carreño has written and collaborated on many newspaper articles which have been published in the Pasadena Weekly and Downtown L.A. News.
When not doing historical or genealogical research, Carreño spends time with his wife, Gina, and their four children. He also finds time to collect baseball cards and to pursue political endeavors such as being the current chair of the Tulare County Political Action Committee and the vice chair of the Latino Democrats of Tulare County. Currently, he serves as a board member of the Tulare Community Health Clinic.
Carreño hopes that this work will bring back fond memories and inspire the preservation of many of Tulare’s historical buildings and sites. He regards this book as a present to the city of Tulare and a portion of the author’s profits from the sale of the book will be donated to the Tulare Athletic Club.
Arcadia Publishing is the leading publisher of local and regional history in the United States. For more information, visit www.arcadiapublishing.com.