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The Kearney Boulevard Arch (Fresno)

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Kearney Boulevard is a seventeen-mile-long scenic highway located in Fresno County.  The original eleven miles of palm, eucalyptus and oleander lined highway was opened from Fresno Street in downtown Fresno west to the property of Martin Theo Kearney in 1887.  Keaney's so-called Chateau Fresno Park would be rebranded as "Kearney Park" following his death in 1903 and later became the first Fresno County Park in 1949.  The Kearney Boulevard Arch at the westbound beginning of the corridor was erected by the city of Fresno in 1933.  




Part 1; the history of Kearney Boulevard

Kearney Boulevard was opened as an eleven-mile-long public highway in April 1887 between Fresno Street in downtown Fresno and the property of Chateau Fresno owned by Martin Theodore Kearney. Kearney had established the Fruit Vale agricultural colony west of Fresno in 1889 which was intended to be subdivided to middle class buyers.

What is now Kearney Boulevard can be seen on the 1891 Thompson Atlas of Fresno County as Chateau Fresno Road.  The corridor is shown beginning at Fresno Street in downtown Fresno in Township 14 South, Range 20 East.  


The Township 14 South, Range 19 East map displays Chateau Fresno Road jogging south of Madison Avenue between Cleveland Avenue and Pierce Avenue.  The corridor is shown passing by the Chateau Fresno property of Martin Theo Kearny westward towards the future town site Kerman. 



During 1892 the 225-acre Chateau Fresno Park would be established at the property of M.T. Kearny. Kearney Boulevard was lined with alternating palm trees, eucalyptus trees and 18,000 oleanders to enhance the scenery of the corridor. Kearney Mansion was completed in 1903 but was only used by M.T. Kearney until his death in 1906.

Kearney Boulevard is shown extended west of Kerman to Township 14 South, Range 17 East on the 1914 Fresno County Atlas. The Kearney Spur of the Southern Pacific Railroad is shown branching over what is now Chateau Fresno Avenue to Chateau Fresno Park.


The Kearney Spur Railroad is shown terminating at a siding facility located immediately west of Kearney Mansion along Cypress Avenue on the 1923 United States Geological Survey map of Kearney Park.  


During 1933 the city of Fresno erected the Kearney Boulevard Arch to mark the westbound beginning of the corridor.  One of the last maps to display the Kearney Park Spur Railroad is the 1935 Division of Highways map of Fresno County.  The spur line does not appear on the 1946 United States Geological Survey map of Kearney Park. 


M.T. Kearney had willed his holdings to the Regents of the University of California in hopes they would establish an agricultural school at Chateau Fresno following his death. The University of California would ultimately sell Chateau Fresno to Fresno County in 1949.

Fresno County would repurpose the Chateau Fresno as Kearney Park. Kearney Park is original park in the Fresno County park system. In 1962 Kearney Mansion was leased to the city of Fresno and Fresno County Historical Society as a museum.

As presently configured Kearney Boulevard is 17 miles in length. The corridor still begins at Fresno Street in down Fresno and extends west through Kerman to Shasta Avenue.



Part 2; a drive on Kearney Boulevard from Fresno to Kearney Park

Westbound Kearney Boulevard begins at Fresno Street in downtown Fresno. The Kearney Boulevard Arch only facilitates westbound traffic passing through the structure. The historic plaque on the arch notes it was placed in 1933, and Kearney Boulevard was presented to the public for use in 1887. Traffic pulling onto Kearney Boulevard is advised it can be utilized to reach Fresno Chandler Executive Airport.




Kearney Boulevard becomes a two-way street at Pickford Avenue.



Westbound Kearney Boulevard passes Fresno Chandler Executive Airport. The facility opened during November 1929 and was the primary commercial airport in Fresno until being replaced by Fresno-Yosemite International Airport in 1948. During World War II the Army Air Corps would use the facility as Hammer Field beginning in June 1942.






Westbound Kearney Boulevard departs the Fresno city limit at Marks Avenue.







Kearney Boulevard dips below Madison Avenue between Marks Avenue and Cornelia Avenue. Upon reaching Cornelia Avenue traffic on Kearney Boulevard is required to make a left-hand turn.
















Kearney Boulevard reaches the entrance for Kearney Park just west of Bryan Avenue.









These views of Kearney Mansion are facing south. The Kearney Park Spur Railroad would have been located off-photo to the right.



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