Exeter is a city in Tulare County, California, United States.

It is situated in the San Joaquin Valley near the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

Before the arrival of European settlers, Yokuts settled around an area in an oak forest two miles north of Exeter.

The current town site was a plain that possessed elk, antelope, frogs, and deer.

[1] Rocky Hill, to the east of the city, offered shelter to native tribes when the plain flooded.

Several caves on the hill contain petroglyphs, though some of the most important of these were destroyed by local vandals/looters and poorly managed and unsupervised steer.

A representative of the Southern Pacific Railroad, D.W. Parkhurst, purchased the land from an early settler, John Firebaugh, and formed the town which he named after his own hometown of Exeter, England.

[1] The damming of the Kaweah valley during the 1930s provided a reliable source of water for agriculture.

In October 1929, Exeter was the site of a large Anti-Filipino race riot.

[8] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.5 square miles (6.5 km2), all of it land.

Major employers in Exeter include Waterman Industries, Svenhard's Swedish Bakery and Peninsula Packaging.