It was a last-minute decision that changed the location of what was to become the San Joaquin Valley’s largest city. The story of Sycamore versus Fresno, today on KVPR’s Central Valley Roots.
The year was 1869 and construction on the Central Pacific’s line through the middle of the valley from the Stockton area was underway. The railroad wanted to lay out a big town midway though the route, but the big question was where.
One logical location was on the south bank of the San Joaquin River, at a popular ferry crossing known as Sycamore, near present-day Herndon. They even purchased four sections of land there for a big new town, adjacent to the planned bridge over the river…