The long, dry, hot summer prompted irrigation of the lands.

The need of a burgeoning California population for food provided the impetus that led to the permanent development of the east side of the southern San Joaquin Valley. Settlers were offered a free lot for every one purchased. Putnam's acres drained and he had his property surveyed, staking out lot lines and establishing streets.

In 1862 20.8 inches (530 mm) of rain fell in the area, causing a change of course of the Tule River. It took its name from the founder's given name because another Putnam family lived south of town.

The town of Porterville was founded there in 1864. He bought 40 acres of land and built a two-story store and a hotel on the highest point of the swampy property, which is now the corner of Oak and Main. He bought out Goodhue the same year and turned the station into a popular stopping place and hotel called Porter Station. Royal Porter Putnam came to the village in 1860 to raise cattle, horses and hogs. From 1858 to 1861 it was the location of the Tule River Station of the Butterfield Overland Mail. A store was set up in 1856 to sell goods to miners and the Native Americans, who lived in tribal lands along the rivers. Wagon trains of gold seekers passed through the village, but other travelers found the land rich and remained to establish farms. Starting in 1854, Peter Goodhue operated a stopping place on the Stockton - Los Angeles Road on the bank of the Tule River. Gold discovered in 1848 brought a tremendous migration to California, and prairie schooners rolled through Porterville between 18. Swamps stretched out into the Valley floor lush with tall rushes or 'tulare' as the Indigenous people called them. Emigrants skirted the eastern foothills in the vicinity of Porterville as early as 1826. Porterville serves as a gateway to Sequoia National Forest, Giant Sequoia National Monument and Kings Canyon National Park.ĭuring California's Spanish period, the San Joaquin Valley was considered a remote region of little value. The city's July 2019 population (not including East Porterville) was estimated at 59,599.

Since its incorporation in 1902, the city's population has grown as it annexed nearby unincorporated areas. It is part of the Visalia-Porterville metropolitan statistical area. Porterville is a city in the San Joaquin Valley, in Tulare County, California, United States.

Gold country casino and hotel