Fresno, California

1880Agricultural Empire Established: Irrigation transformed the arid San Joaquin Valley into the most productive farmland in America. Fresno County produces more agricultural revenue than most entire states.

1960Farm Workers Movement: Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and the United Farm Workers organized grape boycotts and strikes in the Fresno area, transforming labor rights for agricultural workers across America.

1872Railroad Creates Fresno: The Central Pacific Railroad established Fresno Station, and a town grew around it on extraordinarily fertile soil. Within a decade, Fresno was the agricultural hub of California.

1920Armenian Community Flourishes: Armenian genocide survivors built the largest Armenian community in America in Fresno, establishing farms, churches, and cultural institutions. Writer William Saroyan would later bring Fresno's Armenian story to the world.

1933Cotton Strike of 1933: Thousands of cotton pickers in the San Joaquin Valley went on the largest agricultural strike in U.S. history, setting the stage for decades of farm labor organizing.

1940Japanese American Internment: Over 5,000 Japanese Americans from the Fresno area were forcibly relocated to internment camps during WWII, devastating the community and its agricultural businesses.

2015California Drought Crisis: California's historic drought hit Fresno's agricultural economy hard, exposing the fragility of the water system that sustains the Central Valley's farming empire.

1885Raisin Industry Born: An accidental crop of sun-dried grapes launched Fresno's raisin industry. The city became the raisin capital of the world, producing the majority of America's raisins.

1908Fresno Becomes Major City: Fresno's population surpassed 15,000 as irrigation networks expanded, drawing farmers from across America and immigrants from Armenia, Japan, and Mexico.

2020Creek Fire: The Creek Fire burned over 379,000 acres in the Sierra Nevada foothills east of Fresno, creating a massive pyrocumulus cloud and blanketing the city in hazardous smoke.