36°43′58″N 120°20′33″W / 36.73278°N 120.34250°W / 36.73278; -120.34250

Whites Bridge or Whitesbridge is a former settlement on the Fresno Slough near Tranquillity in Fresno County, California.

History

It grew around White's Bridge, a bridge built over the Fresno Slough ten miles above Firebaugh by Fresno County pioneer James R. White.[1][2]: 279  The settlement of Whites Bridge became the new head of steamboat navigation on the slough at high water.[2]: 279 [3]: 201  Whites Bridge post office opened January 9, 1879.[4] By 1881, the settlement in addition to the post office had a store and hotel, and was the site of sheep shearing. The wool and produce of local farms was shipped down river to Stockton and San Francisco. Large ranch holdings belonging to Miller & Lux lay nearby along the San Joaquin River.[3]: 201  The Whites Bridge post office closed on November 15, 1893, and was moved to Mendota.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Whites Bridge
  2. ^ a b Paul E. Vandor, History of Fresno County, California: With Biographical Sketches, Volume 1, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1919
  3. ^ a b Wallace W. Elliot, History of Fresno County, California: With Illustrations from Original Drawings ... with Biographical Sketches, Wallace W. Elliot & Co., San Francisco, 1882; reprinted by Valley Publishers, Fresno, 1973.
  4. ^ a b Frickstad, Walter N., A Century of California Post Offices 1848-1954, Philatelic Research Society, Oakland, CA. 1955. Pages 30-39.