Known as "the fruit basket of the world," the Southern San Joaquin Valley is a great expanse of land rich in both resources and heritage. From the early Franciscan Friars, fur trappers, and explorers to the late-twentieth-century technological revolution, the area is rich in California history.<br><br>The Southern San Joaquin Valley encompasses three counties in south central California, stretching from the citrus and cotton fields of Tulare and Kings Counties to the oil-rich land of Bakersfield and Kern County. This book contains nearly two hundred images of people, places, and events in the valley, some taken by noted photographers such as Carleton Watkins and C.A. Nelson, and others captured by everyday folks as family mementos. Ranging from a simple streetscape of early Visalia to photographs of field workers in Kern County, they provide an interesting glimpse of the valley's past, as seen by historians and other recorders of historical events.