The date -- April 20,
1852 when Tulare County was carved from Mariposa County, was an important benchmark in an unsettled land, There had been no grass roots movement but the creation of a new county did provide opportunities for citzens to seek county office, and the growth of Visalia.

Woodsville, eight miles east of present-day Visalia, was the first settlement and county seat. The tiny ranch community named for the cabin of John Woods soon passed into obscurity. Visalia campaigned for, and won in 1853, a change of the county seat to that settlement.

The first county supervisors were elected at large and not by districts. Twenty-six votes were cast at Woods- ville, 20 at Campbell's Ferry (Kings River), and 48 at Visalia. The decidedly democratic board elected Henry Burrough as it first chairman, The task before the newly elected board has remained a problem today; the board had to locate the money to conduct government, In 1853 land had little value, and most wealth was in livestock.

The tax rate was set at 35 cents on $100, The first assessment role was contained on a single sheet of paper. The tax collector had a terrible time trying to verify entries after several names which read "skipped the country." "dead," or "gone to hell."

Visalia roots
The name Visalia was derived from Nat Vise, alias the Bear Hunter. Visa was a wanderer but was known in San Francisco where he operated a restaurant. Vise named the fledgling town after one in his native Kentucky. In the oral tradition is a sotry that Vise had promised a quarter-section of land if the county seat was changed to Visalia. That offer evidently was enough to carry the 1853 election.

From these frontier days the county seat -- Visalia -- began to grow and display the trappings of a town. In l854, lots were surveyed and set aside for public buildings, a school, and a cemetery.

There was no money for public buildings so initially the Board of Supervisors rented a house on what is now the coner of Oak and Bridge Streets. The Visalia house served as the first courtroom and jail until a new one was built at the same site in 1858.

That one remained in use until a new courthouse was built between Court and Church Streets in 1876, That venerable old building was razed after the present courthouse was dedicated in 1957.

The Board of Supervisors was the governing body for Visalia as well as the county from 1853 until Visalia was incorporated in 1864.

In the 1870s, efforts to persuade the Southern Pacific Railroad to come to Visalia failed, so the local business community financed two feeder railroads, One route connected west with Goshen (1874); the other connected south to Tulare (1887). In 1904, the locally-owned Visalia Electric Railroad was built east to Terminus, the present-day sight of Terminus Dam east of Lemon Cove.

Because of its location, Visalia became the hub of a large trading area. It is the oldest settlement between Stockton and Los Angeles. For many years, vaqueros, ranch hands, and cow punchers rode many miles for a renowned Visalia Saddle, store bought goods of every description, and a night in Visalia's legendary saloons.

In the 1870s, fencing of the open range signaled the end of the great cattle drives. Visalia continued to develop as a supply center for the ranches and farms of the hinterland. Small farms became the norm and dairying the mainstay of the local economy.


Milk money
The dairy industry began to expand in the 1880s and 1890s when land use patterns changed. Land companies subdivided tracts into small holdings with water rights. The small farms were planted with citrus, deciduous fruits, and alfalfa, the key crops of the dairy business.

Alfalfa and small dairies thrived together in Tulare County. One acre of alfalfa maintained two cows. The crop was cut several times a year and rotated to avoid soil depletion.

In l889, pioneer Daniel K. Zumwalt built the first commercial creamery on his ranch between Visalia and Tulare. Zumwalt had been instrumental in the lobbying to create Sequoia National Park in 1890.

Two of Visalia's largest companies deal in dairy products. They are Knudsen's who came to Visalia in 1921 and later became the largest manufacturer at cottage cheese in the world; and the Real Fresh Milk Company.

Real Fresh evolved from the decades of research of Roy Graves, In the 1940s, Graves perfected a method by which milk could be conned "fresh" without condensing, evaporating, or powdering.

That process revolutionized the industry. In 1952, Graves' sons opened the Real Fresh Milk Company in Visalia. Real Fresh producers are sold throughout the world.

In recent years, the central location -- midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles -- has attracted new industry and jobs, Among the largest employers are Jostens Printing and Publishing. U.S.D.A. Cotton, Early California Foods, Sierra Pacific Apparel, and Kraft.
The population of Visalia is expected to eclipse 100,000 by the end of the decade. The local economy remains a "bullish" blend of agri-business, industrial manufacturing, and retail sales.


California's interior, a veritable laboratory of geology, is an elongated trough divided into the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys. These valleys are named for their principal rivers which drain into the Bay of San Francisco. The delta formed by their confluence separates the two valleys.

The San Joaquin Valley is 250 miles long and 50 miles wide. It is isolated by the Coast Range of mountains on the west and by the Sierra Nevada on the east, These ranges meet in the south to form (the Tehachapi Mountains.

The first person of record to see (the San Joaquin was Pedro Foges, first commandante and fourth governor of California.

Many of the early discoveries were accidents of history and the valley of San Joaquin stands as one of the more noteworthy. In 1772, Don Pedro Fages was searching for deserters from the Spanish army. He departed San Diego with a detachment of soldiers. The trail of the deseners took Fages through the Imperial Valley, Cajon Pass, and the Mojave Desert.

The search party proceeded to a pass (Tejon) there the looked out over vast valley Fages described that awe-inspiring view as a labyrinth of lagoons and tulares. Smoke rose from numerous campfires of native rancherias. Tall, tangled tole patches, tree-lined streams. and swampy lakes furnished numerous hiding places for the deserters Fages knew he would never find these men, so he returned forever unaware of the significance of his discovery.


Los Tulares
By 1776 the name Valle de log Tulares was being used to describe the southern end of the valley. Tulares is derived from the Aztec root, tullin, or common cattail or tule. Today, that name is commemorated in Tulare County, the city of Tulare, Tulare Lake, and the Tule River.

The eight counties which make up the San Jaoquin Valley constitute some of the most productive land on earth. The original Tulare County was the very heartland of the valley.


Tulare County created
When Tulare County was organized in 1852, its boundaries stretched from Mariposa County on the north to Los Angeles County; from the Coast Range to the Utah territory on the east. From there original boundaries have been formed all or part of these counties: Fresno County, 1856; Kern County, 1866; Inyo County, 1866. Kings County, 1893

Tulare County remains a large county and ranks seventh in size among the 58 counties of California. It is truly a land of diversity.

The topography consists of distinct but merging landscape. Approximately one-third of its 4,935 square miles is the valley floor. The remainder is composed of foothills, forested slopes and high mountains.

The varied landscape accounts for contrasts in soil, rainfall, climate, vegetation, scenery, recrea- tion and population density. Elevations range from 270 feet on the valley floor to 14,495 feet stop Mt. Whitney.


Land of wonder
The eastern part of Tulare County contains 110 prominent mountain peaks. These peaks range in elevation from 8,000 to 14,495 feet and form a scenic, backdrop that be fueled the imagination of wonder for at least 20,000 years.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and enyo and Sequoia National Forests comprise 1,371,020 acres in total. The Tule River and Strathmore Indian Reservations consist of 49,040 acres, while county-owned parks include more than 120,000 acres.

Altogether, the park lands and forests furnish a wealth of recreational opportunities. Mountain re- sorts, winter sports of every description, fishing, boating, backpacking, hunting, hiking, horseback riding, camping, and water skiing attract more than a million visitors each year. The national parks contain the largest trees on earth, including the Nation's Chrisrmas Tree, General Grant Tree; and the voluminous Genernal Sherman Tree, the world's largest living thing.

The climate varies according to elevation. Average rainfall on the valley floor is 10 inches, most of which falls during the winter months (November-February). Foothills receive about twice that amount, Summers are long, hot, and dry, and farmers can count on a growing season of 270 days.

The first Tulare County Directory published in 1888 had this to say about the weather:

Tulare County is not built upon climate, but on soil and water, and production.

There are two seasons, dry and rainy, Our so-called rainy season is merely that portion of the year in which it sometimes rains The general health of the county is exellant. People do die here occasionally, but the death rate is low. If Tulare County had neither dust nor heat to contend with, her climate would be faultless and all the poeple of the world would want to live within her boundries.


Tulare County Economy
The economy of Tulare County developed in spurts and stages. The early settlers were stockman attracted by water and abundant feed in the high country meadows and on the plains. Grain farming developed when the railroad made it feasible to transport bulk shipments. Irrigation and technological advances like the electric pump made it profitable to raise deciduous fruits, citrus, and alfalfa on small farms.

In the 20th century, irrigation changed viticulture from the family grape arbor to a major income crop. Large-scale cotton culture began in the 1920s. The same factors eventually made dairying the leading industry, None of the new crops totally eliminated the preceding ones.

In the 1990s, .agriculture remains key component in the economt of Tulare County. The top sources of income are dairy products, citrus, cotton, cattle, alfalfa, and grapes. Although agri-business is king, there is a marked trend toward industrialization and tourism.

By the year 2000, population of the county is ecxpectcd to eclipse 400,000. The growing popularity of the county is further evidenced by projections for tourism: upward from the current $374 million to nearly a billion dollars annually in the next decade.