Looking in a photo for that particular clue

In 2009, the Courthouse Museum acquired a photo which is believed to be one of the earliest aerial views of modern-day Merced. Now, take a minute and study the photo and familiarize yourself with some of the landmarks. What will be your clue or clues in identifying when this photo was taken?

At the time of the acquisition, I believed the photo was taken in the early 1930s. Looking northwest, Hotel Tioga and young palm trees on N Street are in the center. In the foreground is the Southern Pacific Railroad – both freight and passenger depots are visible. At the intersection of Main and M streets, there is the Shaffer building, Hotel Merced and El Capitan Hotel. On 16th Street, easily noticeable is the Pythian Castle on the left corner of M Street and the John C. Smith building on the right corner.

I knew the photo was taken some time after the construction of Hotel Tioga in 1928 and before the El Capitan Hotel fire on Aug. 17, 1931, since the whole hotel was still intact in this photo, but I was never able to pinpoint the exact year when the photo was taken. My initial thought was to find out when the Pythian Castle tower was removed since it is not visible in the photo.

Before the Merced Theatre tower on J (now Martin Luther King Jr. Way) and Main streets was built, the Pythian Castle tower was the main landmark for motorists as it stood on the old state Highway 99 (or 16th Street). In 1884, the Knights of Pythias contracted Frank Cotton, who had also worked on the Merced County Courthouse, to build this East Lake-style building on land donated by the Contract & Finance Co. (later Pacific Improvement Co.). Serving as the headquarters of the Knights of Pythias for several decades, the building became the property of Luther Curtis Gardner who was responsible for the removal of the tower in June 1925 as the tower was deemed unsafe during high wind.

After all that research, I was nowhere near where I wanted to be, since the construction of Hotel Tioga provides a better timeframe than the removal of the Pythian Castle tower. So I kept looking. What else in the photo was a new addition to Merced? Most all of the buildings on 15th, 16th, and Main streets were built before 1930, but I knew there had to be one new building that would give me the clue that I was looking for. One indication of a newly constructed building would be its surrounding vegetation and landscape, which would be bare or minimal.

Janss and Ivers Funeral Home (now known as Ivers and Alcorn) at 901 W. Main St. fits such a description in the photo. Seen on the left center of the photo about two blocks west of Hotel Tioga is the L-shaped funeral home. It looks like a newly constructed building since it has no trees or landscape in its front lawn area on the northwest corner of Main and P streets. To its left is the Veterans Memorial Building, which is surrounded by well-grown trees. A little further research shows that the funeral home in the Spanish Colonial style was modeled after the Mission San Juan Capistrano and was completed and dedicated on Aug. 2, 1930. There you go – the clue that I was looking for.

This significantly narrows down the date of the photo. Judging from the trees, the photo must have been taken in summer, so it would be summer 1930 or summer 1931 before the disastrous El Capitan Hotel fire. I tend to lean toward the summer of 1930. I am satisfied with my answer; but there is still room for more detective work. Maybe there is a particular clue that is obvious to you, but not to me. Keep looking and let me know.

On a separate note, I recently visited France and Italy through an educational tour organized by Golden Valley High School French teacher Lily Gordon Walker. I am very pleased to report to you that my family and I had a great time. One of the highlights of this trip was a visit to the U.S. Pavilion at the 2015 International Expo in Milan. Incidentally, its theme “American Food 2.0: United to Feed the Planet” echoes the San Joaquin Valley’s “Palace of Plenty” exhibit in the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco in 1915, but with an emphasis on sustainability.

For more information about the “Palace of Plenty” display and the PPIE, visit the “Promoting Merced: A County of Many Resources” exhibit on display at the Courthouse Museum until July 19. Not much time is left for this show as the museum is preparing for the opening of a new exhibit July 30 to celebrate the centennials of the city of Gustine’s incorporation and El Nido Schoolhouse. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. and admission is free.

This story was originally published July 9, 2015 at 9:43 PM with the headline "Looking in a photo for that particular clue."