A visit to Simonian Farms, Fresno CA

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Hey all,

Our family is traveling today and we made a stop at Simonian Farms off the 99 in Fresno California. Lots of fruits and some produce. Mostly dried, good for on the road. What caught my attention were the vintage brand/business signs and vintage gas pumps. I recently watched a YT video on the history of gas stations. Here are some pictures, some companies still existing today, others not.
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Those aren't operating though. There was a place a bit away from me that actually maintained and used a bunch of classic pumps. Not sure how it worked other than they had more modern hoses and handles.

Over at Kings Canyon Lodge in Sequoia National Forest, they claimed to have the oldest still operating gravity feed pumps in the US. The pumps weren't damaged, but most of the business burned down during the Rough Fire in 2015 that mostly affected national forest land and maybe a bit of Kings Canyon National Park. As far as I can tell, they haven't reopened.

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Awesome pics, oilstained - except that goofy tourist in the first photo!

I love nostalgia and "the good ole' days" concept. The pink tractor is awesome (Ford Ferguson??). Thanks for sharing.
 
Hey all,

Our family is traveling today and we made a stop at Simonian Farms off the 99 in Fresno California. Lots of fruits and some produce. Mostly dried, good for on the road. What caught my attention were the vintage brand/business signs and vintage gas pumps. I recently watched a YT video on the history of gas stations. Here are some pictures, some companies still existing today, others not.
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Grew up in Selma (just a bit south of there). Family owned a few ranches & a local water pump company so did plenty of work all around that area. There, at least used to be, a dive bar just down Clovis Ave(think American was the x street) from where you're at that a friend & I would play pool tournaments in as teenagers lol.

Thanks for the memories.
 
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