Editing Stratford, California (section)

==History==
The town was originally named Stratton in 1901 for William Stratton of the Empire Land and Water Company.  The name was changed to Stratford in 1906 due to the efforts of the local women's club.  The first post office at Stratford opened in 1910.<ref>{{cite book | last=Durham | first=David L. | title=Place-Names of Central California | pages=266–267 | publisher=Word Dancer Press | location=Clovis, CA | year=2001 | isbn=1-884995-33-0}}</ref>
From the 1930s through the 1970s, Stratford was the home of Irigaray's, a restaurant run by Mariana Irigaray and her daughter Alice, pioneering a [[Basque cuisine|Basque-inspired]] version of what would later be called [[California cuisine]].<ref>{{cite book | title= A Travel Guide to Basque America | first=Nancy |last=Zubiri | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=mNK_W8va9h8C&pg=PA150 | page=150| publisher= University of Nevada Press | year= 2006 |isbn= 0874176328 | quote= Although Basque families live in the suburbs and towns around Fresno, none of the latter have a restaurant.  But in nearby Stratford, Mariana Irigaray is famous to this day for the Basque meals she once served at her home....From the 1930s through the 1960s Mariana and her daughter Alice Irigaray were serving California cuisine before the term was ever invented.|access-date= 2014-10-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Home is Alice's restaurant |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |via=Milwaukee Journal |date=June 13, 1979 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19790613&id=8J8oAAAAIBAJ&pg=1982,1554075 }}</ref>

Many local residents are employed in agriculture, affected by the [[late 2000s recession|Great Recession]] and the [[Drought in the United States#2010s|California drought]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/599635/dry-town-central-valley/|title=Inside California's Central Valley Water Crisis - The Atlantic|last=Buder|first=Emily|website=www.theatlantic.com|language=en|access-date=2019-10-10}}</ref> Stratford has been affected by [[land subsidence]].<ref name=LA>{{cite news |first=Diana |last=Marcum |url=http://www.latimes.com/local/great-reads/la-me-c1-stratford-20141024-story.html |title=A parched farm town is sinking, and so are its residents' hearts |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=October 24, 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |first1=Joris |last1=Debeij |first2=Emmanuel |last2=Vaughan-Lee |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/483120/when-a-town-runs-dry |title=When a Town Runs Dry |publisher=Go Project Films |type=documentary video, 8 mins. 15 secs. |via=Nadine Ajaka, ''The Atlantic'' |date=May 17, 2016 }}</ref>

In November 2016, the unemployment rate was estimated at 13.1%.<ref>{{cite web |title=LMI for Kings County, California |url=http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/county/kings.html#AA |website=[[Employment Development Department]] |access-date=19 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161216154236/http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/county/kings.html |archive-date=Dec 16, 2016 |language=en}}</ref>