The Fresno Grizzlies, triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, play minor league baseball at Grizzlies Stadium. The Conours D'Elegance, held each spring at California State University in Fresno, is the nation's most eagerly anticipated antique auto show. Each October, Fresno's annual Blues Festival in the Tower District (under the famous namesake water tower), attracts thousands of fans. Its museums include the Fresno Metropolitan Museum, the Fresno Art Museum, the African-American Museum and the Discovery Center. The city also has the Fresno Grand Opera, local theater companies and music and dance productions. The Saroyan Theatre, named for Fresno-born poet and author William Saroyan, hosts the Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra and the Fresno Ballet. Fresno Cultureįresno's cultural attractions are far more numerous than in other cities its size. Aided by its proximity to both San Francisco and Los Angeles, Fresno is enjoying a growing convention business. Fresno's economy is also supported by diverse industries such as agricultural chemicals and equipment, food processing, computer software, glass and plastics. Grapes, lettuce, cotton and tomatoes are the leaders among its more than 250 crops. In 1875, the raisin industry started in Fresno by accident, when grapes at a vineyard were allowed to dry on the vine. The area's great land and weather attracted farmers and ranchers, many of them immigrants, resulting in a melting pot of nearly 100 nationalities still reflected in Fresno's culture.

Fresno's growth began in the 1870s after the site was selected as a station on the Central Pacific Railroad.

Fresno, whose name is the Spanish word for 'ash tree,' is located in the San Joaquin River Valley in central California, midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Fresno california