HOW AND WHY DINUBA WAS REALLY NAMED
The naming of Dinuba is absolutely unique in the valley. Dinuba was not named for a founder
nor a Spanish or Indian word. It is not named for a homeland. Dinuba was named for a
very specific series of events. The name was an intentional reference, not to an ancient
Greek battlefield, but for a group of people. Just what does this have to do with Dinuba?


HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
The purpose of the Historic Preservation Commission is to preserve, promote and improve the historic resources and districts of the City of Dinuba for educational, cultural, economic and general welfare of the public. Members do this in the following ways:
  • Protect and review changes to historic resources and districts which have distinctive character or special historic, architectural, aesthetic or cultural value to the City.
  • Continue to safeguard the heritage of the City by preserving and regulating its historic buildings, structures, objects, sites and districts which reflect elements of the City’s historic, cultural, social, economic, political and architectural history.
  • Continue to preserve and enhance the environmental quality and safety of landmarks and districts and to establish, stabilize and improve property values and to foster economic development. The Commission is made up of seven citizens that serve three-year terms. The Commission regularly meets the second Monday every other month at 8:30 a.m. in the City Council Chambers located at 405 E. El Monte Way. Please contact Debra Sano at (559) 591-5906 regarding Commission Meeting agenda.


THE SETTING
The Southern Pacific Railroad operated on kind of a “pay as you go” basis. The Railroad had title to land through “patents.” In exchange for these patents, the Railroad owners were required to build the line within a specific time. The Railroad could sell the land to raise the cash to continue building. This process had been successful on the Central Pacific. But California had complications: The Mussel Slough Shooting, and specifically James Patterson’s role, was based on the position that the Railroad didn’t legally own the land they were selling. Settlers claimed they had violated the patents, and forfeited ownership.

The California Supreme Court ruled in favor of the settlers, but the Railroad went to the Federal Courts. Following the release of the Mussel Slough Five, James Patterson and Thomas J. McQuiddy began making frequent and harsh speeches against the railroad all over California, focusing on the same ownership issue and the Railroad’s refusal to obey California law. Unknown, the Railroad, and specifically the Pacific Improvement Company (“PIC”) was being pulled to its financial limits. The Railroad was running out of cash and taking out loans to cover construction. During 1883 and 1884 when Patterson and McQuiddy were roiling the Railroad, the railroad was concerned about its credit rating. In 1884, the Franchise Tax Board taxed the railroad rolling back stock, which was already pledged as collateral on loans. If Patterson succeeded with his speeches, the Railroad and the four owners would all go broke.

When the Federal Court turned down Huntington’s plea to avoid the tax, the Big Four turned to politics. In April 1884 a special emergency meeting of the Democratic Party was called in San Francisco. Gov. Stoneman had called a special session of the legislature to deal with the Barry Bill, an attempt at blocking the Railroad’s monopoly. The Governor and the Senate were on the Railroad’s side; the Democratic Party against. Mr. F.J. Clark, State Controller wrote Patterson on official stationery, strongly urging him to continue speaking and “not let the railroad get away with their hellish scheme”. The Legislature considered the land grants void and was trying to force the U.S. Government to act against the Railroad, which would have ruined The Big 4. To counter the State’s action, the Railroad packed the Senate with Railroad cronies. In the middle of this high stakes fight was James Patterson, an activist against the Railroad.

THE SOURCE OF THE NAME
Circa 3,000 BC, a fierce people known as Danubians lived on the Capatho-Danubian Plain. The Danubian Plain is protected by impenetrable mountains with a fertile plain to grow wheat. The area is still known as the Danubiuan States. Credited as being the very first people to farm wheat, the Danubians warred with the Greeks and later the Romans. Danubians were tenacious and in 600 BC conquered Italy, Europe, and most of Asia Minor. Danubians were known as a “people that cannot be beaten, and never give up”. In 170 AD, Roman Emperor Marcus Arelius, and later his son Commodus, waged a futile 70 year war with to Danubians. In the opening scene of the recent Hollywood film Gladiator, the Roman Army is about to do battle and General Maxiumus’ top commander comments “people should know when they are beaten!” The Opponents in the battle were Danubians.

THE TIE-IN
In the 1880’s, public interest in archeology was peaking. In 1870, Heinrich Schleimans’s excavations of Troy captured headlines. Greek and Roman archeology was a popular topic, and during this same time many articles were written about discoveries of the Danubian culture. In 1887, F.S. Douty was made Secretary of the PIC reporting directly to C.P. Huntington. Douty was an insider in the Big 4. He was an educated man and a member of the San Francisco Arts Council. His involvement in Dinuba’s lot auction was no accident; he was taking care of an old problem for his boss; the Mussel Slough settlers.

Mr. D. Purnell of the PIC, named the Railroad towns in the valley. But Dinuba documents were filed by Douty. The name Dinuba was a direct reference to the Mussel Slough Shooting, the Mussel Slough Five, and James Patterson. They just did not know when they were beaten, and refused to give up. Like Danubians, Mussel Slough settlers had been tenacious and war-like over wheat land and when they (including James Sibley) came to Dinuba, it was a chance for the Railroad to finally have the last word with Patterson and the rest of them.

None of Mussel Slough settlers wanted the new town connected to the notorious gun battle. They just wanted to move on with their lives, so they never talked about the name of the town, and the Railroad had the last word on the matter. By the time Dinuba incorporated, the Pacific Improvement Company was broke and was being dissolved. Why the slight mis-spelling? The town was originally pronounced ‘da nU-ba” not “dI-nu-ba”. While the pronunciation is the same, the spelling was likely intentionally changed to make the circumstances less obvious. The records do not indicate why.



For additional historical information visit the Alta District Historical Society web site.
1883
  • The Raisin industry is introduced
1882
  • The '76 Land and Water Company is formed to divert water from the Kings River and construct an irrigation system.
1888
  • Sibley and Tuxbury build the new townsite of Dinuba around a Southern Pacific Railroad depot.
  • The newly formed Alta Irrigation District moves its office to Dinuba.
1889
  • The Dinuba School District is established and all grades from the first to the eighth are taught.
1890
  • The '76 Land and Water Company sells its canal system to the Alta Irrigation District. Construction begins to expand the irrigation system.
  • A new two-story, six-room schoolhouse is erected. It was located at the site of the present high school. It was built of brick, and demolished as being unsafe shortly after the San Francisco earthquake.
1895
  • The canal system is finished. Construction continues over the next 15 years.
1899
  • The Dinuba Union High School is formed and classes are held in the two-story elementary schoolhouse.
1906
  • Dinuba is incorporated as a City Government.
1908
  • The Dinuba Police Department is formed.
1909
  • The Dinuba Fire Department is formed.
  • The Alta Irrigation District has 50 miles of canals and ditches and serves 80,000 acres of farmland and towns.
  • The Dinuba Sentinel newspaper is formed and continues to be in business today.
1910
  • The Women’s Club of Dinuba succeeds in making Dinuba the first in Tulare County to get a branch library.
  • By the 1910s, agriculture changed from large wheat fields to smaller, individual farms growing specialized crops.
1911
  • Dinuba celebrates the first Raisin Day Parade which continues to be one of the biggest annual harvest celebrations today.
1912
  • The Dinuba Chamber of Commerce is formed.
1920
  • In the 1920s, Dinuba claimed to be second only to Fresno in the production and shipment of raisins.
  • Dinuba’s population reaches about 4,000.
1922
  • Dinuba’s 225,000 gallon water tower is built by the Pitt-DesMoines Company. The water tower is a landmark and is still in use.
  • Dinuba builds a new Firehouse, which also served as the City’s Council Chambers for many years.
1926
  • Dinuba’s population reaches 5,000
1936
  • The City builds a ten-acre park, which is later renamed "Rose Ann Vuich Park."
1958
  • The Naval Department builds a naval reserves building in Dinuba.
1974
  • The City acquires the naval building and converts it to City Hall. The City Council Chambers is added in 1984.
1976
  • Rose Ann Vuich of Dinuba (born in nearby Cutler) is the first woman to be elected State Senator of California. She represented the 15th Senatorial District from 1976 to 1992.
1984
  • The City of Dinuba’s Redevelopment Agency is created.
1986
  • Dinuba High School alumni Burt Rutan designs the Voyager, which his brother and fellow Dinuban Dick pilots around the world, with the help of his wife, Jeanna.
1993
  • Dinuba’s Downtown wins designation by the California State Department of Commerce as a "Main Street City".
  • Dinuba’s population is about 15,000.
1994
  • Dinuba becomes a charter city and the Council is a five member district appointed board.
1999
  • The City builds a million gallon water tower with a project cost of $1.4 million. The tower is 154 feet high with a base diameter of 52 feet. The tower was built by Pitt-DesMoines, the same company that built Dinuba’s 225,000-gallon water tower in 1922.
2000
  • The City builds a new Police Station/Justice Court Facility.
2002
  • Best Buy expands 450,000 square feet.  $20 Million project adding 117 employees
  • Ruiz Foods expands.  $4.8 million project adding 350 employees. 
2003
  • Dinuba gets a six-plex theater
2003
  • President Bush visits Dinuba at Ruiz Foods
2004
  • Dinuba High School alum Burt Rutan launches Space Ship One, which went up 367,442 feet, about 69.2 miles.
2004
  • The City opens the new Public Works Facility
2004
  • SpaceShipOne was built by famed designer Burt Rutan of Mojave-based Scaled Composites with financial backing from software billionare Paul Allen.
2005
  • Wal-Mart builds a 206,000-sq-ft store
2005
  • Bret's Ford Dealership breaks ground
2006
  • Dinuba celebrates its centennial year. The RCR Project breaks ground and it’s officially named “Ridge Creek Golf Course”