City of King City Overview

The southernmost municipality in Monterey County, King City lies along a picturesque stretch of the Salinas River. The area’s first European visitors were with Don Gaspar de Portolá's Spanish expedition, who camped just down the river in 1769 (according to The Salinas, Upside-down River, a 1945 book by Anne B. Fisher). By 1886, the Southern Pacific Railroad had arrived, transporting the wheat grown by town founder Charles King to San Francisco and Los Angeles. Like other spots in the Salinas Valley, King City doubled in size from 1990 to 2010; its current population is estimated as 14,077 by the U.S. Decennial Census. A full-service city, it provides police, fire, community development, recreation, public works and wastewater services to residents.