Kings County is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. It is located in a rich agricultural region. Kings County is also home to NAS Lemoore, which is the U.S. Navy's newest and largest master jet air station. The county seat is Hanford. Kings County is part of the Hanford - Corcoran Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA Code 25260). The population was 129,461 at the time of the 2000 U.S. Census. However, the California Department of Finance estimates that the county's population had grown to 154,434 as of January 1, 2008.
Kings County, California was formed on 22 March 1893 from western Tulare County, California. In 1909 a triangular area of 118 square miles was taken from Fresno County and added to Kings County.
The county derives its name from the Kings River, which was discovered in 1806 by an expedition led by Spanish Army Lieutenant Gabriel Moraga and named Rio de los Santos Reyes (River of the Holy Kings).