Kings
County, the second youngest of the state’s fifty-eight counties, was formed
in 1893. Mariposa was the original county designation for this territory and
all the lands from the Los Angeles County line through the northern reaches
of the San Joaquin Valley and from the summit of the Sierras to the summit of
the Coast Range.
In 1852 Tulare County was carved from the southern portion of this giant county.
Fresno County was created from a section of Tulare County in 1856, and ten years
later Kern and Inyo Counties were created from the eastern and southern areas.
Finally, in 1893, our own Kings County was formed from the western portion.
The battle to separate the area which became Kings County began in 1887 or ‘88.
The Hanford Journal of January 9, 1893 stated that Dr. Butler, who was then
a member of the Assembly from this area, had introduced a bill for the creation
of a proposed new county out of the western portions of Fresno and Tulare Counties.
His efforts failed, as did the efforts of our next assemblyman W.S. Cunningham.
The fight for division continued, led by our next Assemblyman Frank A. Blakeley.
Most residents of the region felt that it was too great a distance to travel
to the county seat for legal transactions and many felt that the western portions
of the county were not receiving adequate return for their tax dollars.
The battle was a bitter one, with Tulare County vigorously opposing the loss
of the Lucerne country, as our area was known in those early days, with its
rich and productive soil. Even Lemoore was in opposition, as the feeling was
that division at that time would end Lemoore’s chances of becoming the
center of a new county government.
On March 22, 1893,* a bill creating the county, subject to the approval of the
electorate of the territory, was signed by Governor Markham. S.E. Biddle, E.E.
Bush, William J. Newport, William Ogden and John H. Malone were appointed to
a commission to carry out the purposes of the act. The commission met on April
5 to outline supervisorial districts. On May 23, 1893 an election was held to
ratify the act creating the county and to elect its first officials.
Petitions were taken to Tulare County asking for a portion of road and school
funds. The small amount given was inadequate for the needs of the baby county
and makeshift efforts had to be made. Public spirited individuals donated space
for necessary offices and the new government began in widely scattered buildings
in the downtown area of Hanford.
At first, the plan was to name the new county Lorraine. This plan was abandoned
and the decision was made to name the county after the Kings River which had
been named "El Rio de los Santos Reyes" (River of the Holy Kings) by exploring
Spaniards in 1805.
The size of the original county, as formed in 1893, was 1257 square miles. In
1909 a triangular area of 118 square miles was taken from Fresno County and
added, bringing the total area to 1375 square miles.
*There is a discrepancy in various sources as to the date of the governor’s signing of the bill and also the date of the local election. The dates given here were found in March, 1893 and May, 1893 Hanford newspapers.