Malter, George H.

George H. Malter was born in Silesia, Bohemia, on March 25, 1852, and educated as a mining engineer before immigrating to the United States. After working on major engineering projects in Chicago, Joliet, and Park City, he came to California in 1869 and bought 480 unimproved acres in Fresno County in 1878. He eventually expanded his holdings to 4,000 acres along Fancher Creek, establishing the famous St. George Vineyard in 1879.

His extensive operations included grape production, a major winery and distillery at Maltermoro in Fresno County, and an additional dry wine facility at Antioch in Contra Costa County. Following the fire of 1906 in San Francisco, where he had long resided, Mr. Malter relocated permanently to his Fresno County estate with his wife, Mabel P. Richardson, and their son, George H. Jr. A member of the Bohemian Club of San Francisco and the Sequoia Club in Fresno, he later sold off portions of his property to enjoy a prosperous retirement.