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HISTORIC ARTICLES/PHOTOS FEATURING INYO-MONO TITLE COMPANY!
The first work in Inyo and Mono counties was
done by title searchers or abstracters in the bustling mining
camps of the day. Normally, the camps seldom lasted long enough for
established business to develop. Undoubtedly the title work done in
law offices at the county seats was more enduring. Much of it
concerned mines, and the litigation involved was likely to have taken
far more time than the title work. Many attorney's fee was paid in
mining interest, the attorney's themselves often developed acute cases
of mining fever.
Attorney Ben Yandell in his office south of the
courthouse developed a systematic title abstract business in
independence. Cecil MacFarlane, a young stenographer in his employ,
became interested in the work and purchased the business before
Yandell's death in 1913. MacFarlane was also a court reporter, and he
served as Inyo County tax collector for the 1911-1914 term.
Benjamin H. Yandell
1868-1913. Aged 45 years.
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Business prospered for "C.I.
MacFarlane, searcher of records," who was searching records in Mono
County also. In 1917 he acquired a small parcel of land directly
across from the courthouse in Independence and built a new office
building to house the company. The business became known as the
Inyo County Abstract Company, with it's branch, the Mono County
Abstract Company, occupying the same office.
In the 1930's MacFarlane had four
additional men on the staff to help search title on the town property
which was being acquired by the city of Los Angeles. Inyo County was
enjoying a temporary boom, while the the rest of the county was in a
slump of a depression. Upon the death of MacFarlane in 1934, his
widow, Irene, continued the business, with his daughter, Sally, acting
as manager. When Sally married in 1946 she and her husband, William E.
Burch, bought the company.
Title Insurance and Trust Company (T.I.)
, enter the scene in 1949, when it acquired the two abstract
companies. Acquisition of the two companies was one of the many steps
in T.I."S far reaching expansion program. T.I. became one of the
largest and most respected of all title companies in the industry,
with it's origins dating back to 1893. In 1961 , just north of the
courthouse , a modern cement building, including a large vault for
storing microfilm, had just been completed to house the growing
company. In 1977, T.I. completed a new and much larger office building
at 163 May Street, moving their facility north to Bishop to
accommodate the increasing population of residents of growing
Mammoth Lakes.
In January of 1983, T.I. sold its Inyo and Mono
county operations to the Core family. Father and son team, Jim and
Jerry, and their wives, Jo and Debbie, named their new company
Inyo-Mono Title Company.
Seen here
is the Title Insurance and Trust Company which was acquired in January
of 1983, located at 163 May Street in Bishop.
Jim had
gone through the ranks of T.I. starting at the age of 18 in
Ventura, managing various T.I. operations throughout California with
title and escrow experience. Jerry also started his title career at 18
with T.I. in Oxnard in 1973. With 30 years and 10 years respectively
at the time it seemed like a logical move to seek out a small title
company for ownership. T.I. was selling smaller operations in
California and the Core's first choice was Inyo and Mono Counties,
although neither one had ever visited the area. The offer was made and
accepted, sight unseen.
In
October of 1984, the company moved its main office and joint title
plants to Mammoth Lakes, leaving an Escrow branch in Bishop. In 1990
the company having purchased an obscure building on Line Street in
Bishop, painted it pink and added a couple of green stripes.
Highlighting the architectural features of the art-deco 1944
"streamline moderne"
building was the talk of the town.
The
Inyo and Mono plants were split at this time, Jerry moving Inyo to
Bishop and Jim retaining Mono in Mammoth, both operations
concentrating on each counties market. The US economy was at an all
time low during this time. Each office needed to help make up the
difference, as there was a competing title company, who also had to
employ duplicates of personnel. It became very obvious that it was a
matter of that, one of the two companies could not survive.
In the summer of 1993, Jim and Jo’s daughter, Judy, came on board to assist in the
Mammoth Escrow
operation. Granddaughter, Michelle, later joined the company in the
summer of 2002 after graduating from Mammoth High School.
In December of 1995 Inyo-Mono Title Company
successfully purchased their competition and the former Chicago Title Company building located on West Line Street in Bishop.
The building was remodeled, repainted and a
John
Pugh mural was commissioned and added to
one of the exterior walls creating another beautiful landmark
building in downtown Bishop.
*Click
on the mural above entitled "The Dirt on Bishop" by
John Pugh for more
details.
The
Inyo and Mono plants were then merged together once again and moved to
this new location on West Line Street where it operated as the main
title plant for both counties.
In 2003 Inyo-Mono Title
Company purchased a larger building in downtown Bishop. This building
is formerly known as the Forest Service building. This new location
rejoined both Line street locations into one central location. The
merge of offices allows customers immediate convenience and access to
both Title and Escrow departments at one location.
In
April of 2004 Inyo-Mono Title moved into the newly remodeled building
at 873 North Main Street in Bishop, California. Our move in April 2004
allowed our Title and Escrow Departments to once again be joined in
the same location thus allowing us to serve our customers more
efficiently. Please stop by Inyo-Mono Title and visit us for all of
your Title and Escrow needs today or in the future.
After
Inyo-Mono Title company had moved to the former Forest Service
building at 873 North Main Street, the former pink Escrow "streamline
moderne" building was once again the hot topic in town. This time not
because of the bold color scheme of the building, but because of an
additional
John Pugh mural that was commissioned in 2005.
The
mural sparked national controversy due to the subject matter of a dark
chapter in Bishop's unaddressed but controversial history, the California Water Wars.
*Click
on the mural above entitled "The Drain" by
John Pugh for more details
including reviews by the NY Times, LA Times, Sacramento Bee as well as
television coverage and different radio commentaries about the
controversial mural.
In the
summer of 2008 Jerry and Debbie's son,
Tyler Core also
joined the family business after graduating from the University of San
Francisco with honors. This making Tyler Core a third-generation Title
man in Inyo and Mono Counties.
Pictured
from Right to Left: Jim Core, Jerry Core,
Tyler Core.
Come by 873 North Main Street in
Bishop or
218 Sierra Park Road in
Mammoth Lakes for all of your Title and Escrow needs!
*Click on the picture of Ed and
Fred for more details!
Locally owned and operated
since 1913
