Peter Nilmeier

Fresno Historical Family.

The following article about Peter Nilmeier was printed in the newspaper by June Mueller, 01/20/1954.  Pete Nilmeier is Irene's father. Irene's parents and grandparents were from the Volga River area of Russia.

The Article:  Fresno Octogenarian Recalls Early Days Of Dust, Mud.

The gentle neighing of horses and the clop, clop of hooves on dusty streets was recalled today by Peter Nilmeier, whose father owned the first livery stable in West Fresno.

N8lmeier, who celebrated his 80th birthday today, said his father, the late Phillip Nilmeier, started the West Fresno Feed Yard and Livery in 1897, 10 years after the family arrived in Russia.

Their stable was located on G Street, between Inyo and Kern Streets.  This property is still owned by the family.

"Fresno wasn't much in those days," Nilmeier said.  "There were no paved streets, and no sidewalks.  The streets were so dusty in the summer, the city sprinkled them from a pressure tank; and so muddy in the winter, you sank hub-cap deep.

GAVE WAY TO GARAGE.

The stables made way for a garage in 1915.  "My father didn't think automobiles would last long," Nilmeier chuckled.  "I has my first ride in one, when a fellow who wanted to make a sale, drove me from Biola to Fresno, and back again.  I bought my first car in 1912.  And there was all the difference in the world.  Much easier riding than a surrey.  Automobiles had springs, and the streets and roads were rough."

Nilmeier, who worked in the stable on Sundays, was employed hauling bricks to the construction sites of some of Fresno's long-gone buildings.  In 1892, he was employed by the Southern Pacific Company as a Section Foreman.

"Those in the younger generation think they work hard," he scoffed.  "I worked 11 hours a day for $1.60; but then you could buy a quart of milk for .05 cents, and coffee for .25 cents a pound."

Nilmeier put in one of the first vineyards in the Biola area in 1906; selling out in 1911 to work in the People's Hay Market at Mono and F Streets.

RETIRED FROM RANCH.

Twenty years later, he purchased land southeast of Fresno, and raised raisens, grapes, and peaches; retiring in 1941, to move to Fresno.  His sons, Urban and Elmer, still operate the ranch.

"All in all, I've had a pretty wonderful life," Nilmeier said. "I've had plenty to eat, wonderful children; and I never worried.  Still, if I could have looked ahead, I'd be rich today.  Back in the old days, two lots, at Fulton and Tulare Streets, where the J.C. Penny Company Store now is, were traded for a cow.

Nilmeier and his wife Katie, who live at 2312 S. Holly Avenue, will celebrate their 58th wedding anniversary on January 28th.

In addition to their sons, they have six daughters:  Mrs. Frank Tawney (Gertie), Mrs. Jack Mehling (Katie), Mrs. Irene Lashley, all of Fresno;  Mrs. J.A. Dittenbir (Millie) of Reedley, and Mrs. E.W. Peterson (Edith) of Parlier, and Mrs. J.E. Sterrett (Eleanor) of the Hawaiian Islands; 12 grand-children and 7 great grand-children. 

One of Peter Nilmeier's daughters is missing; she is Annie Nilmeier, who tragically lost her life in the 1918 Flu Epidemic.