Tuggleville

Tuggleville. . On September 12,1936 a fire struck downtown Tulare destroying Al Tuggle's furniture store. A few months later W. A. "Al" and Enid Tuggle rebuilt their store in an open field South of Tulare exactly. 4 miles South of Bardsley Road on K Street (old highway 99). Eventually, they would construct other buildings around the store including their home located on what is known as Tuggle Street. Al Tuggle always said the name Tuggleville was created by Percy Whiteside, editor of the Advance Register. Al started using the slogan "watch Tuggleville grow” to promote the area. He would eventually place a Tuggleville sign in front of his store. Tuggleville's heyday was between 1937 and 1951. Many well-known individuals, families and businesses would become part of the history of Tuggleville, pharmacist Elliott H. "Pop" Moffett became the first official resident of this village. Al Tuggle would say Pop Moffett was actually the mayor and he was only the dog catcher. The demise of Tuggleville was not due to economic downfall or abandonment by businesses, but rather by the need for public utility and police/fire services. The citizens were initially turned down by the county board of supervisors for a utility district, so the next step was to petition the city of Tulare for annexation. Tuggleville became part of the city of Tulare on October 4,1951.