Kastner, Chris

Born in Sullivan County, New York, in 1878, Chris Kastner learned the butcher’s trade as an apprentice before moving to California in 1898. After three years working in San Francisco, he relocated to Clovis, Fresno County, to work for Petersen Brothers. Following brief business ventures in Nevada and Washington state, Kastner returned to Clovis to purchase a partnership in the Central Market, eventually forming a commercial partnership with his former employer under the firm name Petersen & Kastner.

Under their joint leadership, the Central Market expanded its infrastructure to include a modern slaughterhouse, cold storage plant, and commercial ice manufacturing facility near Clovis, alongside Kastner’s personal investments in local fig culture. Married to Selma native Georgia Bell, with whom he had a daughter, Elizabeth, Kastner served as Noble Grand in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and was widely recognized as one of Clovis’s leading young merchants.