This is the first history of Tulare to be written in the city's 130 year of existence. Kathleen Edwards Small in her 1926 monumental two-volume work entitles"History of Tulare County," allotted ten pages to Tulare's first 50 years. Volume II consisted entirely of biographies of many county personalities, some from Tulare. In Annie Mitchell's 1976 history of Tulare County, "The Way it Was," five pages were devoted to telling the story of Tulare's past and mentioned Tulare citizens and events several times throughout the book. This current work, admittedly limited in scope but rich in photos, concentrates on Tulare and its unique history.
This little book was never intended to be an exhaustive history of our favorite city, but rather an attempt to shed some light on what makes Tulare such a special place. Someone once jokingly answered a question about Tulare's uniqueness with the response, "It's the water." And although the water is very good, it is now, and always has been much more.
I say, "It's the people!"