Interesting Facts

Once known primarily as an agricultural community, Tulare County has diversified over the past few decades. Today, the county is home to more than 150 different industries, including manufacturers of textbooks, metal products, and electronic components. In addition, Jo-Ann Fabrics, the nation's largest fabric and craft retailer, maintains its distribution facility in Visalia. Make no mistake, though: Tulare still ranks as one of the United States' top overall agricultural counties and is its largest dairy-producing county.
Growing like a stalk? The 1960 U.S. census determined that Visalia's population totaled just 15,791. By 1970, that had nearly doubled to 27,268. Presently, more than 117,000 people call the Visalia area "home."
Before western expansion in the 19th century, the San Joaquin Valley was home to a wide range of ecosystems, including wild rivers, swamplands, meadows, and hardwood forests. Towering deciduous valley oaks (quercus lobata) once loomed in great numbers in a 400-square-mile area between the base of the Sierra Nevadas and the Tulare Lake bed. Today, the Kaweah Oaks Preserve near Exeter provides some of the best (and last) glimpses of what Tulare County once looked like.
Within easy reach of downtown Visalia are the majestic Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Sequoia, in particular, is noteworthy for its dramatic landscape, which includes Mount Whitney, whose 14,494-foot summit makes it the highest peak in the contiguous United States.
Giant sequoias, like those found in national parks near Visalia, can reach heights of more than 250 feet � for those keeping count, that's higher than a 25-story building.
The first humans to inhabit the area in and around Visalia were the Yakuts, an indigenous people who adapted their lifestyle to the unpredictable nature of their wetland home. The Yakuts recognized the importance of forests near their settlements and used acorns from the oak trees as a dietary staple. Their word for the oaks, "Kaweah," loosely translates as "mush."
By examining rocks and mineral deposits in the Sierra Nevada foothills, geologists have determined that the entire region, including Visalia, once lay under the Pacific Ocean.
Where do the Oaks play? In Visalia, of course. A Class-A minor league affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, the Visalia Oaks have had many a future Big Leaguer on their rosters over the years, including Vada Pinson, Kirby Puckett, and Eric Chavez. Except for a brief lapse during the early '60s, a Visalia team has been a member of the California League since 1946, the same year that the city's Recreation Park Stadium made its debut.
What's in a name? Visalia was named after one of its earliest settlers, Nathaniel Vise, a pioneer from Kentucky whose family homestead was named � you guessed it � Visalia.
In the 1860s, even tiny frontier communities in California were not immune to the dramatic divisions spurred by the Civil War. Many of those who settled in Visalia felt strong ties to the Confederate States, and members of the community even published the decidedly pro-south "Equal Rights Expositor" newspaper. The federal government, fearing such overt Southern support, established Camp Babbit near Visalia in 1862 to help quell any signs of hostility before they arose.