Fresno, California

City History

Fresno was founded unusually when the entire population of Millerton moved together from Millerton to the railroad line and a new town was created around 1872. It is located in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, often referred to as the great "Garden of the Sun" because of its agricultural prominence. Located here are some of the largest winereries, and largest dried fruit company in the world. Fresno is known for its large agricultural production, among the top in the world. The name comes from the Spanish word for ash tree. There were many of these ash trees in the valley at that time. Fresno had the typical western town atmosphere with some saloons and a sheriff's office. It was burned down several times and was flooded out in 1884. After the serious flood, the resident decided they needed some structured city government. Fresno was incorporated on Oct 12, 1885. In the nineteenth century, with so much wooden construction and in the absence of sophisticated firefighting resources, fires often ravaged American frontier towns. The greatest of Fresno's early-day fires, in 1882, destroyed an entire block of the city. Another devastating blaze struck in 1883. The Fresno Municipal Sanitary Landfill was the first modern landfill in the United States, and incorporated several important innovations to waste disposal, including trenching, compacting, and the daily covering of trash with dirt. It was opened in 1937 and closed in 1987. Today, it has the unusual distinction of being a National Historic Landmark as well as a Superfund Site. Before World War II, Fresno had many ethnic neighborhoods, including Little Armenia, German Town, Little Italy, and China Town. During 1942, in what is now North Fresno, was an assembly center for the relocation of many Japanese Americans.[9] Fictional residents of the town were portrayed in a 1986 comedic mini series titled "Fresno", featuring Carol Burnett, Dabney Coleman, Teri Garr and Charles Grodin, along with numerous other celebrities. The mini series was presented as a parody of the prime time soap operas popular in the 1980s. The climate for Fresno is moderate. The area is typical of the Central Valley of California with warm summers and mild winters. It is extremely rare to have freezing temperatures. High humidity is rarely present. Practically the paradise of weather.

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