Hey, you found me.

I’m Jonathan. I spend a lot of my time building with AI models, testing their outputs, and figuring out where and why they fail. Most of my experience is in real estate, especially commercial escrow and high-liability transactions. I’ve also worked as a landman and completed thousands of reports on surface and mineral ownership, rights-of-way, and open lease opportunities.

Hidden Visalia started with walks downtown when I needed a break from work. I’d see something, get curious, and start looking into it. The reels came out of that. The response has been encouraging. Thank you.

Oh, and if there’s something you want me to cover, either DM me on Instagram @jonathanshops or fill out the form below. If you want to work together on something, use the form please.

In 1853, California Rangers cut off a man's head and put it in a jar of whiskey. Reports say they charged a dollar to look. They said it was Joaquin Murrieta's. The legend of a hanged brother and an attacked wife comes from an 1854 novel. The head c
At twenty, Mary Graves left a starving camp in the Sierra Nevada on snowshoes she sewed her own trousers to wear. She was one of fifteen who set out in December 1846 as the Forlorn Hope, the Donner Party's desperate attempt to bring back help. Seven
One of you made a comment and told me about a small cemetery north of Visalia. Elbow Creek. I went out and found a granite marker with about forty-five names on it, and a line at the bottom saying some graves here are known only to the Creator. There
Cemetery Series Episode 1: Edmond Edward Wysinger, 1816–1891, The Colored School. He bought his own freedom, raised eight children in Visalia, and took his son's case all the way to the California Supreme Court so the boy could go to a public
Visalia built a jail it called escape-proof. Grat Dalton had other plans. Before the Dalton Gang, the brothers wore badges. Then a train robbery near Alila landed Grat in Visalia's brand-new jail, and he sawed his way out behind a few broom handles
Starting a new series where you choose someone buried at one of our local cemeteries in the Central Valley, and I'll search for their story. Say pre-1950 or so. Hoping to make this fun and make local history cool again. #cemeteries #visalia #fypreel
Tulare Lake was once the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi. The Yokuts called it Pa’ashi, "big water," and lived along its shores for generations. Then, Battle Mountain... Photo credit: Tulare County Library, Annie R.
In 1920, the road to Sequoia National Park started with a train. This one ran on electricity, pulling power from wires strung overhead. The Visalia Electric Railroad carried travelers toward the biggest trees on Earth. Then cars took over. The railr
Before he founded a town in Tulare County, Allen Allensworth had been enslaved, sold, and denied an education. Hidden Visalia is going outside the city. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1842, he escaped slavery, served in the Union Navy, and became
The Brick Church. Visalia's first church. The only image I could find of Visalia's first church is a black-and-white sketch. Locals called it the Brick Church. The Methodists organized Visalia's first church in the 1850s. The national church had sp
A missionary hiding a girl from a crowd. A stagecoach robber who checked in and vanished. A jailbreak covered by singing. All of it happened at hotels in downtown Visalia. From Visalia House in 1859 to The Darling today. Five hotels, five stories, a
A railroad killing nobody ever answered for. A decade later, two outlaws born from that same grudge, turned into folk heroes by a San Francisco newspaper. Chris Evans went to his grave swearing he never robbed a train. Still imagery obtained via pub
This is the first #quinceañera photoshoot I've done. I had no clue how difficult it is to move around with that dress! But we pulled it off. This is up near Three Rivers, California, and Viviana was awesome. #visalia #quince #fypreels #fotog
Learned a thing about the microchip scanning in Visalia for pets. If anyone knows who the owner of this handsome fellow, please let me know. Hoping to get him back to his owner. #microchip #petservices #lostdog #visalia #animalshelter
For 131 days in 1942, nearly 5,000 Japanese Americans were held behind barbed wire at the Tulare County Fairgrounds. They were farmers, shopkeepers, students and grandparents. Eighteen babies were born there. Five people died there. Inside the fence
Working on the next Hidden Visalia, Tulare Edition. In 1942, about 5,000 people were locked up at the Tulare County Fairgrounds. Brought here from all over. #tularecounty #hiddenvisalia #historylovers #visalia #fairgrounds

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