About Tulare

Tulare /tuːˈlɛəriː/ is a city in Tulare County, California, United States. The population was 59,278 at the 2010 census.

Tulare is located in the heart of the Central Valley, eight miles (13 km) south of Visalia and thirty miles northwest of Porterville, and is considered part of the Census Bureau's designation of the Visalia-Porterville Metropolitan Area. The city is named for the currently dry Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake west of the Great Lakes. The city's mission statement is: "To promote a quality of life making Tulare the most desirable community in which to live, learn, play, work, worship and prosper." The Stockton seaport is 170 miles (270 km) away, and the Sacramento port is 207 miles (333 km) away. The Los Angeles and San Francisco ports are each approximately 200 miles (320 km) away, making Tulare a hub or central location for product movement. Despite this, the expression "out in the tules (toolies)", referring to the tule rush plant that lined the lakeshore, is still common in the dialect of old Californian families and means "beyond far away."

Transportation was the first impetus behind the establishment of the town. Tulare flourished as the headquarters of the railroad in the area. The town suffered through many difficult challenges, but despite burning down and being rebuilt three times in its first fourteen years of existence, it was eventually incorporated in 1888.In 1891, the railroad moved its headquarters to Bakersfield, decimating the community. Although the railroad was gone, the community of Tulare struggled to become an agricultural center for California, which it is today. Due to the inadequate 10 inches (250 mm) of rainfall per year, water resources had to be found. In order to bring water to Tulare, citizens established the Tulare Irrigation District and issued $500,000 in bonds to build an extensive canal system carrying water from the Sierra Nevada. In 1903, when the bonds were paid off early, they celebrated by having a bond-burning celebration. Once the water system was established, Tulare burgeoned, becoming a center for farming and agriculture because of its central location.

The backbone of Tulare's economy continues to be its rich agricultural and dairy industry. Tulare is responsible for a significant part of Tulare County's 342,600 dairy cows, which help to produce more than 8.9 billion pounds of milk each year. The nation's largest single-site dairy complex, operated by Land O'Lakes, is located in Tulare. Tulare is the home of the Tulare County Fair, held since 1915. Tulare is also home to the internationally known World Ag Expo, held annually at the International Agri-Center. Since 1968, the three-day event in February is the largest annual agricultural exposition in the world, with 1,600 exhibitors on hand showcasing the best in current agricultural technology and products. Over 100,000 people from throughout the world visit the Expo annually.

In December 2010 the City of Tulare was recognized with an honorable mention by the California Sustainability Alliance's Sustainability Showcase Awards. The honor commends the City for its commitment to sustainability through extensive building retrofits, residential solar programs and forthcoming citywide Climate Action Plan.