Fresno, Texas. (original) (raw)

Photo courtesy Ken Rudine, July 2007

History in a Pecan Shell

The name supposedly comes from a settler's hometown of Fresno, California.

Fresno's land was part of a Mexican land grant in 1822 and the area was once part of a huge cotton plantation complex. A post office was granted in 1910 and four years later the town could boast a population that was approaching 33 residents. By the time the Great Depression arrived there were only ten people left but after WWII it reached 100, a figure it would keep for the next 25 years. It swelled to 120 by 1970 but its proximity to Houston would change things drastically. Fresno's population of 3,182 in 1990 more than doubled for the 2000 census where it stood at 6,603.

The mural on the Fresno Volunteer Fire Dept. Building
Photo courtesy Ken Rudine, July 2007