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The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Fresno, California, USA.
- 1856 – Fresno County formed in 1856 with Millerton, a settlement along the San Joaquin River, as the county seat.[1]
- 1865 – William Helm brings his wife and his sheep to the valley floor area south of Millerton.[2]
- 1870 - Weekly Expositor newspaper in publication.[3]
- 1872 – Fresno station founded by the Central Pacific Railroad Company[4]
- 1874 – County seat of Fresno County moves from Millerton to Fresno due to population growth.[5]
- 1875
- 1876 – Fresno Morning Republican newspaper in publication.[7]
- 1877 – Fresno Volunteer Fire Department organized.[8]
- 1881 - William Helm bought the block bounded by Fresno, R, Merced and S Streets from Louis Einstein.[9]
- 1882 – St. John Church built.
- 1884 – Big Fresno Fair begins.[10]
- 1885 – Fresno incorporated.[11]
- 1889 – Meux Home built.[12]
- 1890
- 1892 - Street cars introduced [4]
- 1893 – Fresno Free Public Library opens.[13]
- 1894
- Fresno Parlor Lecture Club organized.[14]
- Fresno Water Tower built.
- San Francisco-Fresno bike messenger service (during the Pullman Strike) initiated.[15]
- 1899 – Santa Fe Passenger Depot opens.
- 1900 – Population: 12,470.[16]
1900s–1940s
- 1901
- Fresno City Railway in operation.
- Fresno Buddhist Temple founded.[17]
- 1904
- Gottschalks shop in business.
- First Butcher Shop Opened by Andrew David Green
- 1906 – Forestiere Underground Gardens begin developing.
- 1908 – Asparēz Armenian/English-language newspaper begins publication.
- 1909 – Raisin Day festival begins.[18][19]
- 1910 – Fresno Junior College opens.
- 1911
- Fresno State Normal School founded.[18]
- Sunnyside Country Club opens.
- 1913 – Commercial Club organized.[11]
- 1914 – Holy Trinity Church built.
- 1918
- Sun-Maid raisin facility begins operating.
- Bank of Italy building constructed.
- 1919 – Fresno Historical Society[8] and Temple Beth Israel founded.
- 1921 – Fresno State College established.[16]
- 1922
- KMJ 580AM Radio begins broadcasting.
- Fresno Bee newspaper begins publication.[20]
- 1923
- Fort Washington Country Club established.
- San Joaquin Light and Power Corporation Building constructed.
- 1925 – Security Pacific Bank Building constructed.
- 1926 – Fresno State Stadium dedicated.[18]
- 1928 – Pantages Theater opens.
- 1929
- Roeding Park Zoo opens.
- Z. S. Leymel becomes mayor.
- Chandler Airport opens as area's primary airport.
- 1932 – Fresno Memorial Auditorium built.[16]
- 1935 – Academy (social group) formed.[21]
- 1939 – Tower Theatre opens.
- 1942 – U.S. Air Force Hammer Airfield and Japanese American internment camp in use.
- 1944 – Pacific Bible Institute founded.[22]
- 1946 – Sierra Sky Park Airport residential aviation community established near city.
- 1947 – Hammer Field National Guard training area and Fresno Air Terminal established, becoming primary hub of commercial aviation instead of Chandler Airport.
- 1948 – Azteca Theater built.
1950s–1990s
- 1954 – Peoples Church and Fresno Philharmonic founded.
- 1955 – Bernice F. Sisk becomes U.S. representative for California's 12th congressional district.[23]
- 1960 – Mexican American Political Association founded.[24]
- 1961 – City of Fresno Takes over municipal bus service.
- 1962 – Farm Workers Association founding meeting held in Fresno.[25]
- 1964
- Fulton Mall dedicated.
- 1966
- Fresno Convention Center complex built.
- Fresno County Courthouse rebuilt.
- 1967 – Catholic Diocese of Fresno established.
- 1968 - Woodward Park opened in north Fresno.
- 1969 – Kiddie Kinema movie theatre opens.[26]
- 1970
- Fashion Fair Mall in business.
- Population: 167,927.[5]
- 1973 – Good Company Players founded.[27]
- 1977 – KMTF television begins broadcasting.
- 1983 – Fresno Metronews begins publication.
- 1984
- Nanaksar Gurdwara founded.
- Fresno Metropolitan Museum established.[28]
- 1989
- Fresno Municipal Sanitary Landfill closes.
- Karen Humphrey becomes mayor.
- 1990
- Vida en el Valle Spanish/English-language newspaper begins publication.[29]
- Population: 354,202.[30]
- 1992 – Hmong Times newspaper in publication.[31]
- 1993
- Hmong Today (television program) begins broadcasting.
- San Joaquin Valley Heritage & Genealogy Center established.
- Jim Patterson becomes mayor.
- 1996 – Tahoe Joe's restaurant in business.
- 1997
- Community Food Bank active.[32]
- River Park shopping center in business.
- 1998
- City website online.[33][34]
- Fresno Grizzlies baseball team formed.
- Fresno Stadium 22 cinema opens.[26]
- 2000
- University High School established.[22]
- Mormon Fresno California Temple dedicated.
- 2001
- Alan Autry becomes Mayor
- 2002
- Grizzlies Stadium opens.
- 2003
- Save Mart Center (arena) opens.
- Ani-Jam anime convention begins.
- 2005
- 2008 – Neighborhood Thrift shop in business.[36]
- 2009 – Ashley Swearengin becomes mayor.
- 2010
- Fresno Metropolitan Museum closes.[28]
- Population reaches 494,665 people.[37]
- 2013
- Poet laureate inaugurated.[38]
- Bitwise Industries launches, bringing a technology and entrepreneur community together. Starts with Bitwise Mural District, and more Fresno campuses follow.
- 2014
- Fresno General Plan adopted, becoming the first one in decades to not expand the Sphere of Influence.
- 2015
- On January 6, Governor Jerry Brown attends a groundbreaking ceremony for California High-Speed Rail in downtown Fresno at the future location of Fresno's High Speed Rail Station.[39]
- Fresno Declares Drought; worst recorded precipitation levels; 130 years. Water Use Reduction/Conservation Begins.
- 2017 – Fresno shootings.
- 2020
- Population reaches 542,161 people.[40]
- 2021
- Former Police Chief Jerry Dyer becomes Fresno's 26th mayor.
- History of Fresno
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Fresno County, California
- Timelines of other cities in the Northern California area of California: Mountain View, Oakland, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose
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