Fresno, whose name means ash tree in Spanish, was long known as the Fresno Country because ash trees grew along its waterways, and one of its rivers was named Fresno. Fresno City was established on the west side of the slough near modern day Tranquility as a stage stop for the Butterfield Line. In the spring of 1872, Leland Stanford, one of the builders of the Central Pacific Railroad, chose the Sinks of Dry Creek rather than Sycamore on the banks of the San Joaquin River, present-day Herndon, as the station site in this area, a decision said to have been influenced by the sight of irrigated green grain nearby contrasting with the surrounding arid plain. The first railroad station depot was located 7/10 of one mile southeast of this park. Fresno Station was established by the railroad in 1872, the county seat moved from Millerton to Fresno in 1874, and the City of Fresno was incorporated in 1885. As originally laid out, Fresno’s streets were parallel and perpendicular to the railroad tracks. In 1885, the old city covered 2.94 square miles and had a population of 3,000; by 1935, it had grown to 8.93 square miles with 56,599 people; and in 1972, it comprised 43.55 square miles with a population of 173,800.