Fresno, named for the abundant ash trees (Spanish: fresno) lining the San Joaquin River, is the county seat of Fresno County and California's most populous inland city, featuring 542,107 residents as of the 2020 census. Originally inhabited by the Yokuts and Miwok peoples and first seen by Europeans when Pedro Fages arrived in 1772, the modern town was founded in 1872 as a Central Pacific Railroad station and incorporated in 1885. Its growth exploded after irrigation canals were built by Moses Church in the 1870s, allowing huge wheat farms, and it soon replaced the flood-prone town of Millerton as the county seat. Geographically, the city sits near the exact center of California, roughly 220 miles from Los Angeles, making it a prime gateway to natural wonders like Yosemite (60 miles north) and Sequoia National Parks (75 miles southeast). Today, the region's economy is heavily tied to large-scale agriculture, and with a 50.9% Hispanic population in 2024, it ranks as the third-largest majority-Hispanic city in the United States.