[2]: 1  He is often associated with bringing the railroad to San Diego Bay, though he was also a prominent horticulturist and businessman, involved in developing the Mission olive industry.

[10] In San Francisco, Kimball and his brothers began carpentry work, and were able to send money back to New Hampshire to pay off his debts there.

[9] Operating in Oakland as Kimball Brothers, they later moved to southern California, to the area that would become National City.

[5] In 1867, Frank Kimball was diagnosed with a lung disease and told to relocate to a place with a warmer and drier climate.

[21] Another orchard which Kimball grew was White Pearmain, an apple cultivar, which originated from a sapling from New Hampshire.

[19] A decade later, in 1880, Kimball traveled to Boston and was able to secure a deal with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to build a transcontinental rail terminus in National City in exchange for him giving the railroad 16,000 acres (65 km2).

[26][27] In 1887, Kimball funded the building of the Brick Row to house individuals connected to the Santa Fe Railway.

[2]: 3 [14] As a result of this, the railroad funded the construction of Sweetwater Dam in 1888, which secured Kimball and the rest of National City a reliable water source.

The dam was a part of a larger resource system designed to provide water for growing crops along the coast to supply San Diego and its surrounding communities.

Frank A. Kimball, one of the area's early settlers, first proposed building a dam on the stretch of Sweetwater River in 1869.

During the winter of 1915 Southern California faced a severe drought that had drained local reservoirs to record lows after more than three years of little to no rain.

This crisis cost significant losses for both agriculture and ranching, highlighting the critical need for reliable water and fractures like the Sweetwater Dam.

The damn ability to provide water for crops and livestock showed its importance and obtaining both economy and daily life.

[30] That same year Kimball was appointed commissioner of the State Board of Horticulture; in that role he lobbied for the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act.

[31] In April 1891, at their Victorian-style home, Kimball and his wife hosted the presidential party of President Benjamin Harrison, which included Secretary Jeremiah M. Rusk and Ulysses S. Grant Jr.[32]: 4 [33] In 1893, Kimball received a bronze medal for his olive oil exhibit at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago;[24] at the exposition he also displayed pickled and dried olives.

[2]: 2  Still civically minded, Kimball and his brother Warren helped found the public library of National City, through their donation of 750 books from their personal collections.

[36] In 1904, he was paid to travel to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, where he hosted an exhibit on the agriculture of San Diego.