On Jan. 6, 1806, Gabriel Moraga of the Spanish Army camped near here on the banks of a river never before seen by white men. Because the day was Epiphany, commemorating the visit of the three kings of the East to the Christ Child, the stream was named El Rio de los Santos Reyes, the River of the Holy Kings. In the 1850's, the village of Scottsburg grew up east of here but was repeatedly devastated by floods. It was relocated here in 1868 and named Centerville. It soon became a thriving trading and social center and was a candidate for county seat in 1874, but lost out to the new town of Fresno. The establishment of Sanger in 1887 began the decline of Centerville.