[7][11][12] Named for the abundant ash trees lining the San Joaquin River, Fresno was founded in 1872 as a railway station of the Central Pacific Railroad before it was incorporated in 1885.

[15] In 1867, Anthony Easterby purchased land bounded by the present Chestnut, Belmont, Clovis and California avenues, that today is called the Sunnyside district.

Unable to grow wheat for lack of water, he hired sheep man Moses Church in 1870 to create an irrigation system.

In the nineteenth century, with so much wooden construction and in the absence of sophisticated firefighting resources, fires often ravaged American frontier towns.

[20] As a result of its remoteness from the great universities of the San Francisco Bay Area and Greater Los Angeles, Fresno became a statewide leader in educational innovation.

[24] Before World War II, Fresno had many ethnic neighborhoods, including Little Armenia, German Town, Little Italy, and Chinatown.

Row crops and orchards gave way to urban development particularly in the period after World War II; this transition was particularly vividly demonstrated in locations such as the Blackstone Avenue corridor.

Fresno's geographical remoteness also made it an early pioneer in the field now known as fintech, long before the term was invented.

The city was specifically selected in part for its remoteness, to limit damage to the bank's image in case the project failed.

This was the result of car-centric urban planning focused on making more room for cars and parking lots, a commonplace approach in the United States at that time.

Because Fresno sits at the junction of Highways 41 and 99 (SR 41 is Yosemite National Park's southern access road, and SR 99 bypasses Interstate 5 to serve the urban centers of the San Joaquin Valley), the city is a major gateway for Yosemite visitors coming from Los Angeles.

Woodward Park, which features the Shinzen Japanese Gardens, boasts numerous picnic areas and several miles of trails.

The brick Queen Anne style depot was a jewel for the city and is one of Fresno's oldest standing buildings.

[35] Between the 1880s and World War II, Downtown Fresno flourished, filled with electric streetcars,[36] and contained a number of "lavish" and "opulent" buildings.

[39] The public art pieces will be restored and placed near their current locations and will feature wide sidewalks (up to 28' on the east side of the street) to continue with the pedestrian-friendly environment of the district.

After decades of neglect and suburban flight, the neighborhood revival followed the re-opening of the Tower Theatre in the late 1970s, which at that time showed second- and third-run movies, along with classic films.

Roger Rocka's Dinner Theater & Good Company Players also opened nearby in 1978,[44] at Olive and Wishon Avenues.

Fresno native Audra McDonald performed in the leading roles of Evita and The Wiz at the theater while she was a high school student.

Woodward Park hosts the annual California Interscholastic Federation State Championship cross country meet.

[49] There is also an upscale swim and racquet club located in northwestern Fig garden, which has multiple amenities including a heated lap pool, massage therapy, daycare, etc.

The unincorporated area and rural cities surrounding Fresno remain predominantly tied to large-scale agricultural production.

After extensive renovation, the building reopened in November 2010 as the B.F. Sisk Courthouse serving the Fresno County Superior Court.

[90] Fresno is served by State Route 99, the main north–south freeway that connects the major population centers of California's Central Valley.

Major improvements to signage, lane width, median separation, vertical clearance, and other concerns are currently underway.

FAX introduced a frequent bus service called FAX15 in January 2017 with buses operating every 15 minutes on Cedar and Shaw Avenues.

[96] A proposal to include a modern light rail system in long-term transportation plans was rejected by the Fresno County Board of Supervisors in January 1987.

The main passenger rail station is the renovated historic Santa Fe Railroad Depot in Downtown Fresno.

The shortline San Joaquin Valley Railroad also operates former Southern Pacific branch lines heading west and south out of the city.

In the 1970s, the city was the subject of a song, "Walking Into Fresno", written by Hall Of Fame guitarist Bill Aken and recorded by Bob Gallion of the "WWVA Jamboree" radio and television show in Wheeling, West Virginia.

[citation needed] Fictional residents of the town were portrayed in a 1986 comedic miniseries titled "Fresno", featuring Carol Burnett, Dabney Coleman, Teri Garr and Charles Grodin, along with numerous other celebrities.