History of Fresno, CA
People had flocked to California once gold was discovered in the 1840s. Settlers largely stayed in the central and northern regions around San Francisco and other places where mining was the only activity performed. It wasn't until 1856 that settlers moved south and created developments that would lead to Fresno County. There were very small settlements and people trying to farm the land. However, it was very dry and not fertile for typical crops. In 1867 a man by the name of Anthony Easterby purchased a large chunk of land. He discovered it was unusable for wheat growing and he came up with a different plan. He hired Moses J Church to build him an irrigation canal. This was the precursor to what is now the Fresno Irrigation District. Crops could be grown with a little irrigation and farming became more popular. Easterby went on to develop a huge ranch and produce beef for the area. In 1872, the Central Pacific Railroad established a station near where Easterby's farm was. Once the station was built and the train made regular stops, the town started to grow. Shops, restaurants and houses were built near the store. At first, this area was called Fresno Station, but later it was just called Fresno. The city was full of saloons but it didn't get its first church until 1876. Another famous resident of the area was Frances Eisen. He had been a student of irrigation and was a grape farmer. By accident, he let some of his grapes overripe and dry while they were still on the vine. His new discovery led to the raisin industry in 1875. Eisen was also a wine maker and led the way for many vineyards to start in the region. Fresno continues to be one of the largest areas in California for agricultural products. Since Fresno had little water resources, many fires ran through the city. The largest one was in 1882, when an entire city block was wiped out. The city became incorporated in 1885 after many fires and a flood damaged large portions of the town. Residents wanted a government agency to help the people rebuild and to do so with control. In 1887, Fresno became the county seat. Fresno is known for having the first modern landfill in the United States. It came up with methods for trenching, compacting and covering trash with dirt every day in order to limit order and to make the trash break down faster. The facility was open from 1937 until 1987. Other landfills across the country and even around the world have adopted this method for containing and maintaining their trash. Another first was introduced in Fresno is 1958. Bank of America distributed and created what was to be credited as the first credit card. It was highly successful and then turned in to what is now known as Visa. This history of Fresno, California is varied between farming and financial markets. The city has grown since its humble beginnings as a store and a train station in to a sprawling metropolitan area that is named one of the 100 largest cities of the US.
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