About a week and a half ago, I was driving home from Los Angeles. Normally I would have taken various freeways to get to my place, but this day I decided to turn off Highway 99 early and drive down Clovis Avenue. Back in the day, Clovis Avenue had been the main road people would take to get to the 99 if they were heading south. But in the 1980s, the freeways started coming in and Clovis Avenue was used less and less and less.
A few months prior, a co-worker had asked me when the last time I had been to Simonian Farms was? To be quite honest, even though I had been by the glorified farm stand many many times over the years, I had not been by it in years and I had never, ever visited the place. So, I decided to stop on the way home.
Simonian Farms is out near the 99, way out at the corner of Jensen and Clovis avenues. It opened in 1901 and had grown tremendously over the years, the corner it sits on having at one time been very busy for travelers. I recalled seeing the place as a kid growing up...but no one ever stopped so I could see it.
What I did see when I pulled into the parking lot was a collection of old tractors along one fence.
There was a glut of old farming equipment and machines set up all around to give the place a country, folksy feel to it.
There were even several old-fashioned kitchen stoves around the place.
As I walked to the main building, I spotted a large patio area with vintage oil and gasoline signs.
There was even a panning for gold area for those busy tourist months (of yesteryear).
It was fortuitous that I happened to stop when I did. It was October and the place was done up for Halloween. I had to check it out.
After passing an abundance of pumpkins and scarecrows, I spotted The Haunted Caboose (Ca-BOO-se, perhaps? Ha!) Zowie! I had to get a look. Was it free? I didn't see anyone else around to ask.
I approach the entrance. Dare YOU venture inside with me?
Upon exiting the caboose, I spied this hay maze. Clearly it was intended for little kids, but I wanted to take a peek inside as well.
If you think your nerves can handle the horror of it all, follow along with me in the video below:
As i walked back to the main building, i saw this booth. Hmm. Was that just to buy pumpkins or was there an admission price for the Haunted Caboose and the Maze? It didn't say, so I just walked on by...
I love that the Halloween theme continued on to the entrance with this spooky butler figure.
Was this also a Halloween prop or just someone passed out in a wheelchair?
Inside there was a really nice selection of produce. All of it nicely arranged and presented. I would have purchased some if I was not heading out of town again a few days later.
There was a section with jams, jellies, preserves, honey and syrups.
There were hot sauces and barbecue sauces.
And dairy-fresh milk.
Some old bicycles over head got my attention. It was then I noticed the train overhead. There is a track overhead for the train to run on, but it is my guess it runs only during busy times...and there was sadly no one there.
There was also some nifty old toy cars that a kid could fit into.
As a movie poster fan, I was especially delighted to see a pair of framed movie posters as well as some vintage circus posters on display.
There were some unusual items for sale, such as this blue sparkling wine. (I DID buy a bottle of that.)
I also picked up some of these unusual candies I had never seen before, from a company called Dickies.
One really surprising thing I saw was this framed picture of former President Bill Clinton.
On closer inspection, there was a letter from President Clinton to the owner of Simonian Farms. Apparently he had visited the place and was expressing how much he had liked it. Zowie!
I came away from the place with mixed feelings. I was delighted to have finally visited it, especially with the Halloween stuff going on. However, I felt bad for the place as well. It's hayday past, I wondered just how much business they still got? As I said, there had been no one there when I visited (aside from the store personnel). Does all of that magnificent produce go to waste? That would be such a shame.
Simonian Farms
2629 S. Clovis Avenue
Fresno, Ca. 93725
(559) 237-2294
http://www.simonianfarms.com/
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