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Kings County

  • Kings County Mines and Mineral Resources (circa 1913-1914) – Excerpts from Report XIV of the State Mineralogist - Mines and Mineral Resources of Portions of California, Chapters of State Mineralogist's Report - Biennial Period 1913-1914, Part IV. "The Counties of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus," by Walter W. Bradley, Field Assistant (field work in September, 1914), San Francisco, California, July, 1915, California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco, California, 1916, pp. 173-370.

    "Kings County was created March 22, 1893, from a part of Tulare, and in 1909 extended by annexing a portion of Fresno County, so that at the present time (circa 1914) its area is 1257 square miles. Its outline approximates a right triangle with the vertical side on the east, bounded by Tulare County, and the hypothenuse on the northwest, bounded by Fresno. Kern County forms the base on the south, while Monterey adjoins on the southwest, cutting off the point of the angle. The most notable single geographical feature of Kings County is Tulare Lake, which has varied in the past from a condition of complete dryness to a water area of over 400 square miles. Its water is derived from the Kings River in high flood periods, and the reason for such wide variation in superficial area is that it lies in a shallow basin with very flat-sloping sides.

    "With the exception of the Kettleman and Kreyenhagen Hills and the edge of the Diablo Range at its southwest corner, Kings County is almost entirely a valley county. For this reason its mineral resources are not as prominent as its agricultural interests. The value of the total recorded mineral production of the county to the end of 1913, is $219,830. To this sum, the following have contributed in the order named: Brick, quicksilver, fuller's earth, natural gas, gypsum and mineral paint. Occurrences of chromite are known but they are as yet undeveloped.

    "The southwestern two thirds of the county is lacking in transportation facilities, while the northeastern part has both the transcontinental line of the Santa Fe and two branch lines of the Southern Pacific Railroad.

    "The Associated Oil, Standard Oil and Independent Producers' Transportation companies have oil pipe lines passing through the county, but no oil has as yet been produced here in commercial quantities. The San Joaquin Light and Power Company supplies portions of the county with electricity."

  • Kings County Mineral Industry (circa 1919) – Excerpt from California Mineral Production for 1919, Bulletin No. 88, by Walter W. Bradley, California State Mining Bureau, 1920, p. 150.

    Area: 1,159 square miles.
    Population: 22,031 (1920 census)
    Location: South-central portion of the state.

    "Little development has taken place in Kings County along mineral lines to date. Deposits of fuller's earth, gypsum, mineral paint, natural gas, and quicksilver, of undetermined extent, have been found in the county. Some drilling for oil has been under way, but there has, as yet, been no commercial output recorded. The increase in 1919 was due to quicksilver.

    "In forty-sixth place, commercial production for 1919 was as follows:"

    (Headings for the information below are: Substance, Amount, and Value.)

    Natural gas, 2,550 M cu. ft., $1,630
    Other minerals, ---, $49,653
    (Total value) $51,283

    Kings County, 1916 Map, from California Mineral Production for 1919 (with County Maps), Bulletin No. 88, by Walter W. Bradley, California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco: California State Printing Office, 1920, pp. 192. Kings County, 1916 Map

Kings County – List of Stone Quarries, Etc. *

(* Please note this list does not include sand or gravel quarries.)

  • Hanford, California – G. T. Reinhard Granite Works (from Design Hints For Memorial Craftsmen, May 1930, Vol. 6, No. 11, pp. 27)

    The G. T. Reinhard Granite Works was listed as one of the customers of the Mount Brothers of Memphis Missouri, who sold their Air Take-off Device used in carving cemetery stones.

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