unWired Community Spotlight: Hanford, CA

unWired Community Spotlight is a series highlighting the communities that make Central California a great place to live. unWired is proud to provide fast and reliable Internet to homes and businesses in Hanford and the surrounding areas.

Hanford is a small city located in the heart of California’s San Joaquin Valley, about 35 miles southwest of Fresno. With a population of just over 54,000, Hanford is a tight-knit community with a rich history and a bright future.

Founded in 1877, Hanford was originally named after James Madison Hanford, a local judge and landowner. The city quickly became an important center of agriculture and commerce, with a thriving downtown area and several large farms and ranches in the surrounding area. Today, Hanford is still known for its agriculture, with a variety of crops grown in the rich, fertile soil of the San Joaquin Valley. Some top crops grown in and around Hanford include tomatoes, grapes, almonds, cotton and more!

Despite its small size, Hanford has a lot to offer residents and visitors alike. The city has a number of interesting historical sites, including the Hanford Carnegie Museum, which houses a collection of artifacts from the city’s past, and the Hanford Fox Theater, a beautifully restored Art Deco movie theater that hosts a variety of events throughout the year.

A lesser-known fact about Hanford is that it was once home to two important figures: Steven Perry and Amelia Earhart. Steve Perry is best known as the lead singer of the popular rock band Journey, but before he found fame as a musician, he was born and grew up in Hanford. While she is best known as a pioneering aviator and the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, Earhart also spent time in Hanford as a young pilot. She lived in Hanford, while she taught flying lessons at the Fresno Chandler Airport.