A disastrous fire on November 13, 1916, destroyed much of Davis's two-block downtown business district after starting that morning near what is now the corner of G and 3rd Streets, and fierce north winds fanned the flames all day. Afterward, Mrs. Delpha Judd Williamson, a member of the Women's Improvement Club, presented a petition with 60 local signatures to the Yolo County Board of Supervisors on January 22, 1917. The board set March 20, 1917, for an election on city incorporation. Of Davis's 979 inhabitants, 404 voted, with 317 in favor of incorporation and 87 against. On March 26, the Yolo County Board declared the City of Davis duly incorporated as a municipality, and the incorporation papers were officially recorded with the California Secretary of State on March 28, 1917, when the City of Davis was born. The city budget for the first year totaled $6,182.86.