Page 16 ended with a discussion on the merits of the City of Fresno. The topic continued and spilled over filling up Page 17. They finished up Page 16 by boasting about the 8 different railroad lines, including the two transcontinental lines we had and how that keeps us connected to the outside world!
Today, we’ll take a good look at what made the City of Fresno a worthwhile place to settle down in the year 1900.
The City of Fresno in 1900
On the previous page it finished with the words, “She has also a splendid system of electric railroads,” and then finishes here with, “which give a splendid city service and also extends for miles into the country.“
Remember that public transit in the 1900s was primarily just for the bigger cities and ones that could manage a system of electric rail cars. The continue to point out that the city has all the other good things that a growing city might need – like a good sewer system, well paved streets, cement sidewalks, a first class fire department, postal rural delivery, telephone, and gas and electric. How very proper!
Moving into the arts and things that give a city roots, they discuss the fine Opera House, the churches, and the new library (a $30,000 gift from Mr. Andrew Carnegie). Why? Carnegie lived across the country in Pittsburgh, PA. Well, we know that Carnegie had a vested interest in Fresno as he built the railways and the only way for them to be profitable would be if the city was successful. Making people happy and want to live here helps in that success.
A soon to be built, $200,000 County Court House is also listed as approved by the Congress.
The business buildings downtown are of “high architectural design” which we’ll take as meaning of modern design, or at least current for the time.
They finish the page planting the idea that the “impression left upon the minds of her visitors are those of a prosperous, growing, enlightened and up-to-date community“. Not much has changed since then, right? We couldn’t argue with that if we heard it today.
Remembering that this is a sales pamphlet, they appropriately close with “That is the kind of place we unhesitatingly ask our reader to place his confidence and his capital in.“
Well done! We’re sold!
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