Alpaugh, California

Alpaugh is a census-designated place (CDP) in Tulare County, California, United States. The population was 1,026 at the 2010 census, up from 761 at the 2000 census.It is named for John Alpaugh, one of the officers of the Home Extension Colony which reclaimed (or land speculated on) the land the town is built on.GeographyAccording to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 1.0sqmi, all of it land.The site is located on the historic shoreline of Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake in the USA outside of the Great lakes. Other towns built on its historic shores include Lemoore and Kettleman City.HistoryAlpaugh's location was once either on an island or a narrow peninsula near the south end of the huge and rich Tulare Lake. A.J. Atwell was a Visalia attorney who raised hogs on the island,. The lake at different times supported a very large Indian population, a commercial fishery, herds of tule elk, countless game birds, and much more. The island was a regular port of call for the lake's commercial ferry service. The last time the lake was brim full and overflowed into the San Joaquin River to the sea was 1878. Water diversions of its source waters have since caused the lake to shrink into the tiny remnant of today. Local efforts are underway to increase the lake's size for water storage and wildlife.Los Angeles real estate developers, the California Home Extension, promoted, developed or founded Alpaugh, nearby Wasco, and several other California towns. It has also been referred to as "W.H. Wilber's Second Home Extension Coloney purchased eight-thousand acres of land surrounding." Los Angeles newspaper articles of the time explained that they were not the original landowners. "The California Home Extension association does not represent land owners; it has no lands of its own for sale.'." On 17 December 1905, an article headlined "BUY IN TOWN OF ALPAUGH, CAL" ran in the Los Angeles Herald. Subheadline: "PURCHASE OF 11,000 ACRES BY COLONISTS." It says in part: Eight Hundred Families to Settle in the Beautiful and Productive San Joaquin Valley for Homes and Profit