Fresno City and County Historical Society
Posted by: 
fresgo
N 36° 43.424 W 119° 55.163
11S E 239275 N 4068199
Located in M. Theo. Kearney Park 7 miles west of Downtown Fresno in Kearney Mansion Museum.
Waymark Code: WM8ZEE
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 06/04/2010
Views: 5
The Fresno City and County Historical Society was founded in 1919 by a group of Fresno Pioneers. It has been housed in several locations and its current headquarters is the
Kearney Mansion Museum . The Mansion surrounding grounds (now Kearney Park) were developed in the late 19th Century by Martin Theodore Kearney. MTK was a capitalist/land developer who came to Fresno to develop and sell land. The Mansion was originally the home to Kearney's ranch superintendent. Kearney died in 1906 and bequeathed his estate to the University of California, who today leases the property to the County of Fresno. It has been the Historical Society Headquarters since 1962.
The mansion is open for school tours during the week and public tours on the weekend. The mansion, park, and 11 mile long driveway (Kearney Boulevard) are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The FCCHS currently has plans to rebuild portions of the Kearney Estate to its former glory. It's primary fundraiser each year is its nearly two decade old presentation of the Civil War Revisited, one of the largest Civil War Reenactments in the US.
In addition to producing several outreach programs, walking tours, lecture series highlighting California's Central Valley History, the Society publishes a quarterly Newsletter "the Grapevine" and journal "Past and Present".