Chester Rowell

Dr. Chester A. Rowell (Oct. 17, 1844 - May 9, 1912) was a Fresno physician, California state senator (1880-1882, 1899-1901, 1903–1905), University of California regent (1891-1912), and mayor of Fresno (1909-1912).

Before moving to California, Dr. Rowell was a Union soldier in the Civil War. He took part in several battles between 1861 and 1864, including the Battle of Shiloh and the Siege of Vicksburg.

Dr. Rowell arrived in Fresno in 1874 to practice medicine. In September 1876, he established the Fresno Republican newspaper. It was purchased by and eventually merged into the present-day Fresno Bee.

In 1879 he was elected to the state senate in California as a Republican. The county was heavily Democratic at the time, and Rowell was the first Republican to win an election in Fresno County.

In 1912 he received an overwhelming share of the vote to win the mayoral election.

Rowell commissioned the construction of Fresno's first skyscraper, now known as the Rowell building. It is six stories tall and located in downtown Fresno at the southeast corner of Tulare and Van Ness streets.

In 1914, Fresno commissioned Haig Patigian to create a memorial sculpture. The base of the memorial contains a relief where Rowell is shown seated at a patient's bedside. It can be found in the Fresno County Courthouse park, across the street from the Rowell family home in downtown Fresno.