Today's Hanford was once north of Tulare Lake, historically the largest body of fresh water west of the Mississippi River.

The area was inhabited by the Tachi Yokuts Indians for several thousand years prior to Euro-American contact.

They occupied locations along watercourses such as creeks, springs and seep areas (such as sloughs), along perennial and seasonal drainages, as well as flat ridges and terraces.

[5] Since the annexation of California after the Mexican-American War, the locality was settled by Americans and immigrants as farmland, broadly referred to as "Mussel Slough".

The earliest dated grave in the area was that of a young Alice Spangler who was initially buried in the Kings River Cemetery just north of her family's farm in 1860.

As the settlement grew, Tulare Lake's feeding rivers were diverted for agricultural irrigation, causing it to gradually shrink and, over the 19th and 20th centuries, effectively become extinct.

From the mid-to-late 1870s, the Southern Pacific Railroad planned to lay tracks towards the developing farmland west of Visalia, spurring a growth in labor and population.

In 1877, Hanford began to appear in state newspapers, giving details of events in the town's early days.

In 1878, Hanford began running their own newspaper service and wiring called "The Public Good" which fed into other papers.

[12] In May 1880, a dispute over land titles between settlers and the Southern Pacific Railroad resulted in a bloody gun battle on a farm 5.6 mi (9.0 km) northwest of Hanford that left seven men dead.

A second railroad was laid through Hanford in 1897, which today is the main north–south line of the BNSF Railway through the San Joaquin Valley.

Saloons flourished in Hanford's early days despite an anti-saloon movement until the town voted to become "dry" in 1912, eight years before nationwide prohibition was enacted.

[7] In the 1930s, famed pilot Amelia Earhart lived in Hanford to teach flying lessons at Fresno Chandler Airport.

She befriended local resident and student of hers Mary Packwood with whom she gifted a personally-designed dress and left luggage shortly before her disappearance in the Pacific Ocean in 1937.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 16.6 square miles (43 km2), all land.

It has a cold-semi arid climate typical of the San Joaquin Valley floor with hot, dry summers and cool winters characterized by dense tule fog.

In August 2017, Faraday Future announced that it had signed a lease for the former Pirelli plant where it plans to manufacture electric vehicles.

[30][31] Major employers within the city of Hanford in 2006 included the Kings County government with 1,041 employees, the Adventist Health with 857, the Hanford Elementary School District with 520, the Del Monte Foods tomato cannery with 435 year-round and 1,500 seasonal employees and Marquez Brothers International, Inc., makers of Hispanic cheese and other dairy products.

[32] Many Hanford residents work for other nearby employers such as NAS Lemoore, the U.S. Navy's largest Master Jet Base located 15.5 mi (24.9 km) WSW of Hanford and for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation which operates three state prisons in Kings County.

Additionally, the National Weather Service's San Joaquin Valley office is located in Hanford.

[34] According to the United States Census Bureau, median household income in Hanford was $54,767 and 18.3% of the population was living below the poverty line in 2008–2012.

[37][38] The Renaissance of Kings Cultural Arts Faire[39] is held the first weekend of October at Courthouse Square in Hanford's city center.

[40] The Kings Symphony Orchestra[41] was founded in 1963 and draws musicians from throughout the central and southern San Joaquin Valley.

[44] Chinese immigrants that arrived in the late 19th century created a thriving Chinatown in Hanford in the neighborhood around China Alley.

Dirt track auto racing takes place at the Kings Speedway[46] from March through October.

[49] The current mayor is teacher and former Hanford Planning Commission Vice Chair Travis Paden following the 2022 California elections.

[59] Hanford was also served by Orange Belt Stages until it ceased operations in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism.

However, the proposed station on the eastern outskirts of Hanford is listed as "optional" and will not be built without matching local funds or in-kind support.

[61][62] Formerly, the water had contained naturally occurring arsenic in excess of the maximum contaminant level adopted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

[64] The city's sanitary sewer system consists of 212 mi (341 km) of collector lines and 22 pump stations.