Fresno (Spanish for 'ash tree') was named for the abundant trees lining the San Joaquin River.

The original inhabitants of the San Joaquin Valley region were the Yokuts people and Miwok people, who engaged in trading with other Californian tribes, including coastal peoples such as the Chumash of the Central California coast, with whom they are thought to have traded plant and animal products.

In 1872, the Central Pacific Railroad established a station for its new Southern Pacific line. A store popped up near the station and grew into the town of Fresno Station, later called Fresno.

Frances Eisen, father of the wine industry in Fresno County, began the raisin industry in 1875 when he accidentally let some of his grapes dry on the vine. Today, over 2,000 California Raisin growers produce 100% of the U.S. raisin supply on approximately 150,000 acres within a 60 mile radius of Fresno.

Popping, rooted in the rhythms of live funk music, is based on the technique of quickly contracting and relaxing muscles to cause a jerk or sudden stop in the dancer's body, referred to as a pose, pop or a hit. It was popularized by a Fresno & Long Beach-based dance group called the Electric Boogaloos that mixed popping techniques to boogaloo.

The Forestiere Underground Gardens were built by Baldasare Forestiere, an immigrant from Sicily, over a period of 40 years from 1906 to his death in 1946. The plants and trees, some of which are over 100 years old, get sunlight through skylights but are protected, by virtue of the garden's subterranean construction, from the frost in the winter months.

The Fresno Municipal Sanitary Landfill was the first modern landfill in the United States, and incorporated several important innovations to waste disposal, including trenching, compacting, and the daily covering of trash with dirt. It was operational from 1937 to 1987 and is now a National Historic Landmark.

Parodying popular prime time soap operas of the era such as Dallas, Dynasty, Falcon Crest and Knots Landing, Fresno chronicled the ruthless battle for domination of the Fresno raisin industry between Charlotte Kensington (Carol Burnett) and the villainous Tyler Cane (Dabney Coleman).

When the Interstate Highway System was created in the 1950s, the decision was made to build what is now Interstate 5 on the west side of the Central Valley, and thus bypass Fresno, instead of upgrading what is now State Route 99. Due to rapidly rising population and traffic in cities along SR 99, much discussion has been made to upgrade it to interstate standards and eventually incorporate it into the interstate system, most likely as Interstate 7 or 9.

In 1958, Fresno was selected by Bank of America as the launch site for the BankAmericard, which was later renamed Visa.