Founded by the Pacific Improvement Co. after completion of Southern Pacific's east side railroad in May 1888 and named for Indiana rail executive Joseph Sanger, Jr., Sanger soon eclipsed neighboring Centerville with support from a rich fruit and citrus farming district that later made it a fruit and packing center. In 1890 it became an important part of a major Sierra Nevada logging operation, with a mill that operated for nearly four decades, and the 54 mile Millwood Flume, later extended to Hume, terminated there. Its ties to the Sierra and support of the annual Yule pilgrimage to the General Grant Tree earned it designation as the nation's Christmas Tree City. Sanger was incorporated on May 15, 1911. The S. P. depot, built in 1888 and now the city's oldest building, was moved to this location for use as a museum in 1977.