Fresno's Wilson Island and Rosanna Cooper Wilson, the Woman Behind It

The story of Fresno's Wilson Island begins with its creator, Rosanna Cooper Wilson. She is an example of the often-forgotten role of women in the early development of California's Central San Joaquin Valley. A descendant of Alta California land grant families, Rosanna was a diminutive woman born in 1859 who was proud of her Spanish heritage. She left a legacy to Fresno, California, that is today one of only four registered historic districts in Fresno. It played a pivotal role in the northern expansion of the town and is noted today by nationally recognized architectural experts for its collection of museum quality homes.

Developing land was in her genes. She was the granddaughter of Juan Bautista Rogers Cooper and grandniece of General Mariano Vallejo, two famous figures of power and influence in Alta California in the 1800s who would have been proud of her accomplishments had they lived to see what she achieved.

Throughout her adult life, she was haunted by the knowledge that someone close to her had her father's name secretly redacted from her baptismal record at the Cathedral San Carlos Borromeo in Monterey to hide her existence as her father's eldest daughter by his first wife. Pushing through the adversity, she became a land baroness worth over $3.6 million when she died in Fresno in 1947. This is her story, and the story of the Wilson Island.

About the Author
Raymond, Jeannine: - Jeannine Raymond is a native Californian who has traveled enough in the Far East, Europe, and the US over the last thirty years-in the third world as well as cosmopolitan centers-to know that Fresno is a comparatively decent place to live, undeserving of the many Fresno jokes it receives. She is also a Wilson Islander. After a forty-year career in higher education culminating with a decade in the executive administration at the greatest university in the world, UC Berkeley (condolences to the cardinal enclave down the peninsula), she retired in 2017, committed to researching and writing nonfiction histories (an oxymoron?) about Fresno for pleasure. When she is not buried in archives or writing, she is in one of her other spaces for creative expression, her garden or her beading. She is a certified University of California Master Gardener who likes to experiment, design, and work with nature in the many microclimates of the half acre she tends. And when the heat is too extreme to be outside, she may be working on the latest seed bead creation or visiting friends.