park – HOME ON THE CORNER

Last year, I found that Walmart was selling the game Hanfordopoly. It’s like Monopoly, but for my town. Well, I had to buy it! Then Lauren and I went around town and took pictures of each of the places on the game board. It was so much fun! I can’t wait to introduce you to our sweet little town and some of its history.

Part 1-Freddy the Firetruck and Carousel

Part 2– Hanford Mall

Part 3– Fox Theatre

Part 4– Civic Auditorium and Civic Park

Part 5 – Downtown

Part 6 – The Plunge

Part 7 – Kings Art Center

Part 8 – Hanford Library

Part 9 – Renaissance Faire

Part 10 – Centennial Park

Part 11 – La Fiesta Restaurant

This is Hidden Valley Park and it is near my house and near to where I grew up. I brought my kids here many times over the years to play and explore. There is the required play structure which is pretty amazing! There are so many tunnels and slides and places to have fun! There is a water area too for when our weather gets so hot.

The pond has been here since the beginning and there are always ducks and geese around. The city fills the pond with fish in the spring and there will be a special fishing day in the spring for the kids to come out and try their hand at catching some fish.

These are just a few of the ducks who were taking a break from the water. You do have to be careful of the geese though. They can be mean!

Frisbee golf is a newer addition to the park. To be honest, I’m not even sure how to play. I do know that this basket is in the middle of a group of trees and would be very difficult to get a frisbee into.

As a kid, I spent hours at this park with my best friend and neighbor, Kenny. We would ride our bikes and spend all morning or afternoon here exploring. There is water down in the basin in the spring and we would find pollywogs and tiny little frogs. We could also hear the bullfrogs and they would scare us when they would jump into the water. We had our own special tree, where the trunk went out from the shore and the rest of the tree hung over the water. We would sit and talk and I’m sure we made up stories too.

We found lots of treasures there too. I remember finding a creepy doll down there after the water had gone down.

Unfortunately, a lot of the trees are gone. We have had so many years of drought so a lot of them died and have been taken out. This tree is the same kind we would play in though.

They have even added a fitness center to the park. I saw a sign that there are classes at 9:00 every Saturday morning, but it is open all the time if you want to go work out on your own.

We tried to get some pictures of my husband and I with the dogs, but, umm, they didn’t work out so well. This is the best we got. You can see two of them ‘protecting’ me from the people at the end of the bridge. 🙄

This park holds the most memories for me, both from my childhood and my kid’s childhood. Do you have a favorite park in your town too?

If you haven’t read the other My Town posts, you can read them here:

Part 1-Freddy the Firetruck and Carousel

Part 2– Hanford Mall

Part 3– Fox Theatre

Today I have our Civic Auditorium and Park. Isn’t this a beautiful building?

“This hall, known as the Civic Auditorium, was dedicated in 1924. It still stands today in downtown Hanford. The main auditorium is utilized extensively by community groups and organizations. In the early 1930s, following the trend of many communities, the Board of Trustees became known as the Hanford City Council. The Hanford Civic Auditorium is a great place for your special celebration, family reunion, reception or business meeting. The west wing seats 50 and the Main Hall seats 500. Built in 1924, this historic hall is said to be haunted by a few ghosts. Apparitions have been witnessed, including one man dressed in a 1940s suit and another who appears on the balcony as if watching a show. He applauds, then vanishes. And if you visit the men’s restroom, don’t be surprised if you hear disembodied voices discussing legal affairs.”

Okay. I’ve never seen or heard any ghosts, but apparently others have! I have been here for so many different events. Lauren had baton lessons here, there have been many Christmas Vendor Fairs I have attended and other types of receptions and concerts. This building is such a central part of my town.

I’ve included Civic Park in this post, It’s kind of hard to separate the two! The water in the fountain is so refreshing on a hot summer day here in the valley. The city Christmas Tree was just replanted and is right next to the fountain.

The old city jail is right across the park from the auditorium. Now this building is really supposed to be haunted!

“The name “Bastille” may churn up memories of childhood history lessons about the famed Paris prison stormed during the French Revolution.

But if you live in Kings County, chances are you might think of another jail – a former jail, actually – known as the “Bastille” in downtown Hanford.

Last week, the unique, red-brick building that looks like a castle, complete with a turret – hence, the nickname that has stuck for decades – was on the mind of the Hanford City Council, which voted to make the Court Street building in Civic Park surplus property.

It’s the first step in a process that could lead to the city putting the building up for sale, either to another public agency or private buyer.

But whoever buys the building will have considerable costs going in, as the Bastille hasn’t been occupied since 2009 due to structural problems that lead to it being vacated for safety concerns.

It has remained vacant since, and Hanford officials have said the building has continued to deteriorate.

That’s not surprising, as the Bastille is more than 120 years old, built by Kings County in 1897. It continued being used as a jail until 1964 “when the building was condemned following the discovery of the sheriff office’s ceiling strewn upon his desk and surrounding floor area,” leading to the construction of a new, larger jail and sheriff’s office in Hanford, according to WeirdFresno.com, one of several websites that identify the Bastille as being haunted.

“Could some of the prisoners who died here over the fifty-plus years still be roaming the building, claiming they are innocent and are trying to get anyone’s attention,” the website asks, noting incidents of kitchen staff reportedly seeing pots and pans move and feeling like someone was watching them after the Bastille became a restaurant.

“I have heard of that, but the city had nothing to do with that website,” Darlene Mata, Hanford’s community development director, said of the haunted building claims.

Kings County Supervisor Doug Verboon, whose mother worked at the Bastille in the 1970s when it was a bar, said, “it was haunted back then.”

City officials contacted couldn’t immediately provide much specific information about the Bastille’s history, but the WeirdFresno site states, “Over the years, the building has been home to several restaurants and nightclubs.”

As for how the former county jail came to be owned by the city, Verboon said Hanford had been leasing it from the county for $1 a year for several years and subletting it to businesses under an agreement that the city would handle and pay for the building’s upkeep.”

-The Business Journal-

This building sits right next to the Civic Auditorium and is the Veteran’s Memorial Building. Both of these buildings were built in the 1920’s. Unfortunately, the roof is in need of repair, so the building sits empty for now. It has been used for a senior center where they could meet for classes and Bingo. It was also used by the library to host reading for the kids each summer.

The park has hosted many events that go on in Hanford. It’s always a busy place and especially nice to enjoy a cold ice cream on a hot day! I hope you enjoyed this post. I would love to hear what you think!