Hutchinson, Barzilla E.

Born near Cleveland, Ohio, in 1836, Barzilla E. Hutchinson spent his early life in Indiana and Michigan, where he engaged in merchant trade, served as city marshal of Big Rapids, and was under-sheriff of Mecosta County. After relocating to Fresno County in 1884, he took charge of half a section near Fowler for the Iowa Loan and Trust Company, eventually acquiring 160 acres of his own. A master horticulturist known across California as “The Peach King,” Hutchinson set state records for peach yield and size, while also producing award-winning grapes, citrus, and stone fruits.

A director of the Fresno Fruit Growers Company and superintendent of the Briggs Canal Company, Hutchinson was a vital force in early local irrigation and fruit marketing. He retired to Fresno in 1917 alongside his second wife, Mrs. M. L. Van Lew, a prominent businesswoman who managed substantial Fowler ranch acreage. Following injuries sustained in a streetcar accident, Hutchinson passed away on May 11, 1919, leaving a legacy as one of Fresno County’s premier agricultural pioneers.