Central Valley Roots

By KVPR

KVPR's Central Valley Roots explores the history, people and places of Central California. Discover something new about our region, past and present, with each episode. From Fresno and Bakersfield, to... more

· History

4

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FAQs about Central Valley Roots:

How many episodes does Central Valley Roots have?

The podcast currently has 176 episodes available.

Central Valley Roots episodes:

December 17, 2025 The Eisen Brothers and the birth of Fresno's raisin industry
Francis Eisen's first raisin crop came by accident, after a heat wave left his Muscat grapes dried on the vine in 1877.
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2min
December 16, 2025 Bakersfield's Rosedale Colony and the curious case of the "remittance man"
Second-born sons of the British aristocracy, who often ran afoul of Victorian-era social standards, known as "remittance men," were among those recruited to settle Kern County's Rosedale Colony.
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2min
December 15, 2025 The jewel of Fresno's skyline: the Pacific Southwest Building
The Pacific Southwest Building was intended to be unsurpassed by any bank building on the West Coast.
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2min
December 12, 2025 Big banks, the Roaring 20s and raisins: why Fresno's Pacific Southwest Building was built
In the span of 50 years, Fresno went from a ramshackle frontier town to hosting a hi-rise designed to rival any other banking building on the West Coast.
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3min
December 01, 2025 An iconic image of JFK, taken here in the Central Valley
Photographer Sam Vestal's photo of President John F. Kennedy in Los Banos in 1962 is a powerful image, and has been featured in the Smithsonian.
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2min
November 26, 2025 A Valley landmark that simply vanished: Madera County's "Monte Redondo"
Monte Redondo could be seen from many miles away, and was a popular rendezvous for Spanish military explorers. Most scholars agree that it was located along the Fresno River west of Madera.
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3min
November 25, 2025 Visalia's iconic sculpture: James Earle Fraser's 'End of the Trail'
Created for the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exhibition in San Francisco, the original sculpture sat for over 50 years in Mooney Grove Park. Today, a replica sits in its place.
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2min
November 24, 2025 A city on the San Joaquin River? How Fresno won out over Sycamore
A last-minute visit by Leland Stanford led to a change that gave us Fresno, and doomed the planned town of Sycamore.
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2min
November 21, 2025 Changing channels: How the Kaweah River got its name(s)
Unlike most rivers in the Central Valley, the Kaweah spreads out into multiple channels as it enters the valley floor. It has also been given multiple names throughout history.
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3min
November 20, 2025 The story of Bakersfield's Oleander-Sunset neighborhood
Beale Park is the centerpiece of one of Bakersfield's oldest neighborhoods, Oleander-Sunset.
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2min

FAQs about Central Valley Roots:

How many episodes does Central Valley Roots have?

The podcast currently has 176 episodes available.

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