Priscella Vega reported for the Los Angeles Times this week out of Stratford, California, population 1,277, an unincorporated community at the southern end of the Great Central Valley. Vega's story, with photos by Brian van der Brug, is mostly a "day in the life" feature on this King County community. The town is being sapped by drought, even as immigrants and others struggle to hang on--even innovating and seeking grants to help them put on festivals and events.
But like many rural towns in the American West, Stratford, about 40 miles south of Fresno in Kings County, is a shell of even its humble heyday. It’s fading amid ever-rising temperatures, years of drought and recession.
Westlake Farms, once the biggest employer in town, scaled down its 65,000 acres and had massive layoffs in 2000 to a bare bones operation. U.S. Census figures show Stratford’s population shrank from 1,277 in 2010 to 901 in 2020.
Land sinks here, sometimes at nearly historic high rates of more than 1 foot per year, because of excessive groundwater pumping. Out of its four wells, Stratford can only rely on one — the others are unreliable and are unusable.
People in Stratford have tried to do what they can to help it stay afloat. The latest business to open, a taco truck, arrived at the town’s request. To raise money to revitalize the town, a nonprofit called Reestablishing Stratford applies for local grants and receives donations from local clubs and residents to host 5K runs, food drives and even haunted mazes for Halloween.
“Small towns like this remind you of all those little positive traditions that maybe big cities start to lose,” said Robert Isquierdo Jr., a former resident who co-founded the nonprofit with Chavez.
It's a poignant, yet somewhat hopeful story, well worth a read in its entirety. An earlier story by Vega, also out of the Valley, is featured here.
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