Clovis is a city in Fresno County, California, adjacent to the larger city of Fresno. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 68,468. A 2005 estimate places the population at 86,015.

History

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The city of Clovis began as a freight stop along the San Joaquin Valley Railroad. Organized by Fresno businessmen Thomas Hughes, Fulton Berry and others, in partnership with Illinois financier Marcus Pollasky, the SJVRR began construction in Fresno on July 4, 1891 and reached the farmlands of Clovis Cole and George Owens by October of that year. The railroad purchased right-of-way from both farmers, half from each - the east side from Cole and the west side from Owens - and ran tracks up the borderline between the two properties. The railroad agreed to establish a station on the west side of the tracks on the former Cole land, and to call it "Clovis". Cole and Owens later sold land on each side of the tracks to the person of Marcus Pollasky for development of a townsite. Fresno civil engineer Ingvar Tielman mapped the townsite on behalf of Marcus Pollasky and recorded the townsite map on December 29, 1891. The original townsite featured streets named for the officers and principal investors of the railroad – Woodworth, Pollasky, Fulton, Hughes, Osmun, and Baron.

The railroad was completed as far as the town of Hamptonville (now Friant) on the banks of the San Joaquin River, 26 miles in length from its point of origin in Fresno. Following a celebration of the completion of tracklaying in November, 1891, the railroad began official operation in January of 1892.

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