College of the Sequoias

College of the Sequoias was established by the Visalia Union High School Board of Trustees in 1925 as Visalia Junior College. The college began offering post-high school instruction in September 1926, with 63 freshmen. Classes were held in a five-room building on the east end of the present-day Redwood High School campus and remained there until 1940.

Enrollment grew during the late 1920s and 1930s, reaching more than 500 students by 1939, while the college expanded its academic and vocational programs. In 1937, it began providing bus service for students living outside Visalia and established a building trades program.

Construction of a new campus began in 1938 on a 55-acre (22 ha) parcel on Mooney Boulevard, approximately two miles from downtown Visalia. The campus opened in September 1940 and remains the college's main campus. It initially consisted of three buildings: a classroom and administration building, a gymnasium, and an industrial arts and trades facility, all designed in the Art Deco style.

In 1940, the college began offering agricultural science courses, which later became part of its agricultural program at a college farm established in 1947.

On January 18, 1949, voters in the Tulare Union High School District and Visalia Union High School District approved the formation of a separate junior college district encompassing the two high school districts. During the spring, students submitted names for the new district, and the Board of Trustees selected College of the Sequoias. The district began operating as the Sequoias Community College District, and Visalia Junior College was subsequently renamed College of the Sequoias.

In 1950, voters in the Exeter Union High School, Woodlake Union High School, and Lindsay Unified districts approved joining the district. In 1962, the Orosi Union High School, Corcoran Unified, Hanford High School, and Westside Unified districts joined. The Strathmore High School District joined in 1976.

By the late 1990s, the district began planning to expand College of the Sequoias beyond its Visalia campus. The district had operated a small storefront facility with several classrooms in the Hanford area since the 1980s and leased a larger facility there in 1992. In 2001, the district entered into an agreement with the City of Hanford and Hanford Joint Union High School District to acquire 180 acres (73 ha) for a new high school, athletic complex, and permanent College of the Sequoias campus. A bond approved in 2006 helped fund construction of the college campus, which opened in 2010. The California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office officially designated the Hanford campus as a center in 2015. In addition to general education courses, the Hanford Center houses the college's police and fire training programs.

The district purchased a 500-acre (200 ha) site in Tulare in 1998 for the college's agricultural programs and farm, however the Tulare College Center would not open until January 2013. The center has since expanded to include applied technology programs in industrial maintenance, electrician training, welding, and construction.