Tulare

Tulare is a city in Tulare County, California. The population was 59,278 at the 2010 census.Tulare is located in the heart of the Central Valley, eight miles south of Visalia and sixty miles north of Bakersfield. The city is named for the currently dry Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake west of the Great Lakes. The city's mission statement is: "To promote a quality of life making Tulare the most desirable community in which to live, learn, play, work, worship and prosper." The Stockton seaport is 170mi away, and the Sacramento port is 207mi away. The Los Angeles and San Francisco ports are each approximately 200mi away, making Tulare a hub or central location for product movement.EtymologyThe English name Tulare derives ultimately from Classical Nahuatl tōllin, "sedge" or "reeds", by way of Spanish tule, which also exists in English as a loanword. The name is cognate with Tula, Tultepec, and Tultitlán de Mariano Escobedo.HistoryThe Yokuts people built reed boats and fished in what was later to be called Tulare Lake in their homeland for centuries, until the invasion and settlement by the Spanish and American pioneers. When California became a state in 1850, Tulare did not yet exist as a town. Tulare was founded in 1872, by the Southern Pacific Railroad. The town was named for Lake Tulare. The lake had been named for the tule rush plant (Schoenoplectus acutus) (pictured left), a species of bulrush that predominantly lined the marshes and sloughs of its shore.