About Kingsburg

Kingsburg (formerly, Kings River Switch, Wheatville, Kingsbury, Drapersville, Farleyville, and Kingsburgh) is a city in Fresno County, California. Kingsburg is located 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Selma at an elevation of 302 feet (92 m), on the banks of the Kings River. The city is half an hour away from Fresno, and two hours away from the California Central Coast and Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. The population was 11,382 at the 2010 census.

Kingsburg was established as a railroad town, its site set by the Central Pacific Railroad when it completed the Valley Line in 1873. In the early 1870s, Swedish natives settled in a railroad town called "Kings River Switch". Kingsburg started out as a flag stop on the Central Pacific Railroad called Kings River Switch. In 1874 Kingsburg was called Wheatville and had a post office, later that year they changed the name to Kingsbury. During this time period, Josiah Draper and Andrew Farley each owned a quarter section, about 160 acres, Draper on the east side of the railroad tracks and Farley on the west side of the tracks. So it was suggested that the east side be called Drapersville and the west side called Farleyville. Two years after that it became Kingsburgh and it January 1894 took on its present spelling, "Kingsburg", which was finally established as a town in 1908. By 1921, ninety-four percent of the population within a three-mile radius of Kingsburg was Swedish-American, giving the community the nickname of "Little Sweden". To keep up with the town's Swedish history they have most retail businesses designed in Swedish architecture.

For much of the town's history the fields around Kingsburg were mostly grape vineyards, which produce mainly raisin and tablegrapes; however in 2002 a large surplus of raisins and grapes drove the price for these commodities down to an all time low. Subsequently, farmers were forced to replant the fields with stone fruit, or (particularly on the west side of town) sell their land to developers to help cope with the rising population. Kingsburg is the headquarters of Sun-Maid Growers of California, a producer of raisins and other dried fruits. Kingsburg is home to the world's largest box of raisins, built by students at California State University, Fresno.

Kingsburg is located at 36°30′50″N 119°33′14″W. Kingsburg is located in the central portion of the Central Valley of California. The town is two hours away from The Sierra Nevada Mountain range and the coast. It is about 3–4 hours away from L.A., San Francisco, and Sacramento. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.8 square miles (7.3 km2), all of it land.