Editing El Centro, California (section)

==History==
[[File:Portrait of Juan Bautista de Anza (Painted by Fray Orci; 1774, Mexico City).jpg|thumb|left|[[Juan Bautista de Anza]]'s famous expedition into [[Alta California]] passed through the area in 1775.]]

Spanish explorer [[Melchor Díaz]] was one of the first Europeans to visit the area around El Centro and Imperial Valley in 1540. The explorer [[Juan Bautista de Anza]] also explored the area in 1776<ref name="deanzatrail">{{Cite web|url=http://www.solideas.com/DeAnza/TrailGuide/Imperial/index.html|title=De Anza Trail|access-date=August 3, 2009|archive-date=July 5, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705234710/http://www.solideas.com/DeAnza/TrailGuide/Imperial/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> (an elementary school in El Centro now bears his name). Years later, after the [[Mexican–American War]], the northern half of the valley was annexed by the U.S., while the southern half remained under Mexican rule. Small scale settlement in natural aquifer areas occurred in the early 19th century (the present-day site of [[Mexicali]]), but most permanent settlement ([[English American|Anglo Americans]] on the U.S. side, Mexicans on the other side) was after 1900.<ref name="stevens"/>

Originally part of [[San Diego County, California|San Diego County]], the Imperial Valley was settled by farmers once water from the Colorado River was diverted via [[Alamo Canal|canals]] to irrigate the desert valley floor.<ref name="stevens">{{cite book |title=Hoover Dam: An American Adventure |last=Stevens |first=Joseph E. |year=1990 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=978-0-8061-2283-0 |pages=12–16 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ga3CBCSP9asC&q=Hoover%20Dam%3A%20An%20American%20Adventure%20wozencraft&pg=PA10 |access-date=May 26, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Sperry|first=Robert L.|title=When the Imperial Valley Fought for its Life|url=https://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/75winter/imperial.htm|work=The Journal of San Diego History|publisher=San Diego Historical Society|access-date=June 2, 2010|archive-date=June 28, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628231219/http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/75winter/imperial.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1906, the land on which El Centro was later built was purchased by W. F. Holt and C.A. Barker.<ref name="el-centro-history">{{Cite web|url=http://www.cityofelcentro.org/history.html|title=History of the City of El Centro|publisher=City of El Centro|access-date=July 13, 2009|archive-date=May 11, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090511095243/http://www.cityofelcentro.org/history.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1907 Imperial County was split off from San Diego County; by then much of the valley was successfully irrigated.<ref name="stevens"/>

Before the town began, the railroad had established a station and named the place Cabarker.<ref name=CGN /> The name honored C.A. Barker, a friend of the landowner.<ref name=CGN /> The first post office in El Centro opened in 1905.<ref name=CGN>{{California's Geographic Names|1416}}</ref>

Early growth was rapid with the city's population reaching 1,610 by 1910 and more than tripling by 1920 to 5,646 people. One reason for this rapid early growth was El Centro's successful battle with the City of Imperial to become the county seat. In these early days, relationships among the cities of the Imperial Valley were often intensely competitive, reflecting the particular frontier character of the area and the fact that six cities within a twenty-mile radius were all established within one generation. These cities were in a horse race to win the prize of being the Valley's leading city and the intense competition is measured by the fact that it took twenty years to get a county fair started because of strong local loyalties on the County Board of Supervisors.

The City of El Centro was incorporated on April 16, 1908. One reason for this rapid growth was El Centro's becoming the county seat of [[Imperial County (California)|Imperial County]].<ref name="el-centro-history" />

In 1940, El Centro experienced [[1940 El Centro earthquake|a 7.1 earthquake]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Imperial Valley, California 1940 05 19 04:36 UTC (local 05/18) Magnitude 7.1|url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/events/1940_05_19.php|work=Historic Earthquakes|publisher=USGS|access-date=November 18, 2010|archive-date=November 8, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101108174633/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/events/1940_05_19.php|url-status=live}}</ref> and population growth accelerated through the 1940s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990|url=https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/ca190090.txt|publisher=US Bureau of the Census|access-date=November 18, 2010|archive-date=September 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924115745/http://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/ca190090.txt|url-status=live}}</ref> By the mid-1940s, El Centro had become the second largest city in the Imperial Valley, with a population of about 11,000 people. El Centro had also become the location of the [[Imperial Irrigation District]] (IID) administrative offices.<ref name="el-centro-history" />

Agriculture has been an important industry within El Centro since the early 20th century. Due to its strategic location near rail lines and U.S. Highways 80 and 99, more than 35 growers and shippers still operate in El Centro. However, by the early 1980s the two largest employment sectors in El Centro were government and wholesale/retail trade, reflecting El Centro's emerging role as a regional administrative and commercial center.<ref name="el-centro-history" />

[[Imperial Valley Mall]] opened on the southeast side of the city in 2005.