The area now known as Fresno County, once a semiarid steppe,
was discovered by Spaniards during a search for suitable mission
sites. In 1846, this area became the property of the United
States as a result of the Mexican War.
Fresno County was formed in 1856 from parts of Mariposa, Merced and Tulare counties.
The county is named after Fresno Creek. Fresno in Spanish signifies
"ash
tree" and it was due to the abundance of mountain ash or ash
trees in the county that it received its name. Parts of Fresno
County's territory were given to Mono
County in 1861 and to Madera
County in 1893.
The original county
seat was placed
in Millerton,
but it had to be abandoned after a devastating flood swamped the
county court house. The county seat was then moved to higher
ground at Fresno and the little town of Millerton never fully
recovered.
The settling of Fresno County was not without its conflicts,
land disputes, and other natural disasters. Floods caused
immeasurable damage elsewhere and fires also plagued the
settlers of Fresno County. In 1882, the greatest of the early
day fires wiped out an entire block of the city of Fresno, and
was followed by another devastating blaze in 1883.
At the same time residents brought irrigation,
electricity, and extensive agriculture to
the area. Moses Church developed the first canals,
called "Church Ditches," for irrigation.
These canals transformed
the barren desert of Fresno County into rich soil, thus enabling
extensive wheat farming
in Fresno County. Frances Eisen, leader of the wine industry in
Fresno County, also began the raisin industry
in 1875, when he accidentally let some of his grapes dry on the
vine. A.Y. Easterby and Clovis Cole (aka the "Wheat King of the
Nation") developed extensive grain and cattle ranches. These and
other citizens laid the groundwork for the cultivation of Fresno
County - now the nation's leading agricultural region. In more
recent times cotton became a major crop in Fresno and the
southern San Joaquin Valley, but recent drought and lower demand
have lessened cotton's importance to the local economy.
The discovery of oil in the southwestern part of the county, near the
town of Coalinga at
the foot of the Coast
Ranges, brought about an economic boom in the first decade
of the 20th century, even though the field itself was known at
least as early as the 1860s. By 1910, Coalinga
Oil Field, the largest field in Fresno County, was the most
richly productive oil field in California; a dramatic oil
gusher in 1909,
the biggest in California up until that time, was an event of
sufficient excitement to cause the Los
Angeles Stock Exchange to
close for a day so that its members could come by train to view
it. The Coalinga field continues to produce oil, and is
currently the eighth-largest field in the state.[2][3]
To date, over thirty structures in Fresno County are on the
National Register of Historic Places, including the Fresno Water
Tower, which once held over 250,000 US gallons (950 m³) of water
for the city of Fresno, the Meux Home, and Kearney Mansion
Museum.
