LOCAL HISTORY PROJECT

Picture of the Tollhouse Hotel looking east. The oak tree and the picket fence are visible.

circa: 1915

The tree is on the left, the hotel is mostly hidden by trees and shade, and the livery barn is partly visible in the background left. Looking east.

circa: 1918

This is the ledge that the Tollhouse Hotel sat on before it was torn down. The tall dry grass almost hides the ledge. The walnut trees have grown since the hotel went down.

circa: 1992

This is the third and existing Tollhouse Store. The view would be from the hotel's porch if it still existed. The old store was on the right behind the cottonwood tree. The cottonwood tree was the tree in previous pictures that was used to measure the picture's age. It was cut down shortly after this picture was taken. This is a "then and now" picture.

circa: 1992

Young people today practice driving cars. Sixty five years ago they practiced driving teams. Here are Max Yancey's son and stepson, Bud Yancey and Woody Van Vleet, with their team in front of the hotel and oak tree. Max gave them some played out old horses and a little wagon and they drove everywhere. Looking west through Tollhouse.

circa: 1923

Looking west through Tollhouse. The livery barn is on the right with the bar behind it. On the left is the blacksmith shop. It's a snowy day on the mountain but not in tollhouse. Note the dirt-muddy road, impassable in a storm.

circa: 1910

A motorist trying to fix his car in Tollhouse. Mud and water everywhere from a storm, making the road above Tollhouse on the grade undrivable. The livery barn is in the foreground with the bar in the center of the picture.

circa: 1919

Snow in Tollhouse. Snow caused many people to take pictures of places because they wanted to see the snow, thereby preserving records almost by accident. Looking west through the town, the livery barn and hotel on the left and the store and blacksmith shop on the right. The oak tree in front of the hotel is easily visible.

circa: 1910

In this picture the Tollhouse Cafe has replaced the livery barn and the bar is gone entirely. The big building behind the cafe was a garage with living apartments on the top floor. The garage burned down shortly after it was built, lasting only a few months. This is the only picture of it I have ever seen. The large oak tree in front of the hotel has been cut down and the hotel has been torn down. The white marker is where the tree used to be. The ledge the hotel sat on is visible on the right.

circa: 1948

Here is the Tollhouse Cafe from across the road. The cafe was open from about 1946 until 1996 with many short closures due to management change. When Highway 168 was rerouted through Prather the business in Tollhouse fell off, eventually causing many businesses to shut down. The lumber trucks hauling cut lumber are heading to Fresno from the Pine Logging and Byles-Jamison mills in Dinkey Creek. The log trucks are probably hauling to Yancey's mill in Tollhouse.

circa: 1950