Corcoran, California

Corcoran is located at 36°05′53″N 119°33′37″W.[5]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.4 square miles (17 km²), all of it land.

The ground under Corcoran is subsiding due to withdrawal of groundwater by agricultural interests. There has been up to 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) of subsidence over the past 14 years.[9]

Soils around Corcoran are somewhat poorly drained to poorly drained loam or fine sandy loam which is often saline as in the widespread Lakeside series. Other important soil series include the Armona, Gambogy, Grangeville, Kimberlina, and Lemoore.[10] Corcoran is occasionally subject to areal flooding due to its position in a basin. Notable flood years include 1983 and 2023.

Flooding, showing inundated farmland and a flooded CAFO (animal feeding) facility.

At the time of the 2000 census, the median income for a household in the city was $30,783, and the median income for a family was $32,852. Males had a median income of $30,787 versus $21,792 for females. The per capita income for the city was only $13,458. It is noteworthy that about 23.4% of families and 26.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 36.4% of those under age 18 and 10.6% of those age 65 or over.

Many local residents are employed in agriculture. However, the community has been affected by the Great Recession as well as the decline of the cotton industry, the California drought and restrictions on pumping from the Sacramento River delta to protect endangered species. In November 2016, the unemployment rate was 11.1%.[15]

The largest employers in Corcoran include the California State Prison, Corcoran, the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison, Corcoran, the Corcoran Unified School District, and the J. G. Boswell Company.[16]

Corcoran is located within California's 22nd congressional district, and is represented by Republican David G. Valadao.

In the California State Legislature, Corcoran is located within:

• 14th California State Senate District, which is represented by Democrat Melissa Hurtado
• 32nd California State Assembly District, represented by Democrat Rudy Salas.

Corcoran is represented on the Kings County Board of Supervisors by Richard Valle of Corcoran.

Corcoran employs twenty-one full time personnel including 15 uniformed officers, five clerk-dispatchers, two reserve officers, and Animal Control Services. Kings County Fire Department provides firemen who provide services with the assistance of volunteers. Industrial sites—There are approximately 320 acres in the city limits zones for light and heavy industry with two industrial parks included in this total.[17]

Corcoran was founded by Hobart Johnstone Whitley, a prominent land developer from southern California, who took the lead in building Corcoran (the main street of the community is named in his honor). Liking what he saw during a visit to the area in 1905 (a blacksmith shop, small store, scattered homes and a lush, untapped vista with herds of grazing wild hogs, horses and steers) Whitley purchased 32,000 acres (130 km²) to start development. Much like in the San Fernando Valley (Van Nuys and Canoga Park his "creations"), Whitley "leveraged" his holdings with the support of important Los Angeles businessmen. Whitley first intended the town be named "Otis", after Harrison Gray Otis of the Los Angeles Times, and streets as Otis, Sherman, Letts (the Broadway store) and Ross (after his son, Ross Whitley) show the connections. Whitley, it is claimed, purchased and platted some 150 towns over the American West—and Corcoran is one of his last.

Whitley moved a member of his real estate firm, J. W. Guiberson, to the area. Guiberson became one of the many pioneers of the community, building the first home and business structure in Corcoran. His family also helped establish the first church in the community, an event which helped lead to the town's incorporation on August 14, 1914.

The basis of Corcoran's economy then and now is agriculture. Initially, the most successful crops were grains, alfalfa and sugar beets.

In 1933, more than 12,000 workers went on strike against cotton farmers, one of the largest California agricultural strikes of 1933. Strikers in Corcoran created a tent city that eventually held more than 3,000 people, more than double the town's population. Its lack of water or sewage systems created waves of illness.[18] Streets were staked out in the tent city, and committees of workers governed the camp.[19]

The J. G. Boswell Company was established in Corcoran in 1921 and remains a major employer in the city.

The first post office opened in 1901.[6]

Corcoran Unified School District is the public organization responsible for education in the town of Corcoran. The school district has seven schools.

• Bret Harte
• John C. Fremont
• Mark Twain
• John Muir Middle School
• Corcoran High School
• Corcoran Academy
• Kings Lake Educational Center

Corcoran is served by the BNSF Railway, which is the successor to the Santa Fe Railway. The mainline track through Corcoran was part of a route connecting the San Francisco Bay Area to Bakersfield, California. The track was constructed by the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railway about 1898.

Today, Amtrak California's San Joaquin stops at Corcoran station.

From 1910 to 1934, the Kings Lake Shore Railroad operated a line that ran southwest from Corcoran to what is the now-extinct Tulare Lake.

On December 2, 2010, the California High-Speed Rail Authority Board voted to start construction of the first part of the California High-Speed Rail line at Borden near Madera and continue it to Corcoran. Construction began in 2012.[20]

• Corcoran Prisoner of War Branch Camp

• Arax, Mark; Wartzman, Rick (2003). The King of California, J.G. Boswell and the Making of a Secret American Empire. Public Affairs. ISBN 978-1-58648-028-8.

• City of Corcoran
• Corcoran Health Center
• Corcoran Unified School District

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