King City was originally known as Kings City for its founder, Charles King. In 1884 Charles King acquired 13,000 acres (53 km2) of the Mexican land grant Rancho San Lorenzo, originally given to Mariano and Feliciano Soberanes in the early 1840s during Mexican rule of California. King began growing 6,000 acres (24 km2) of wheat. In an effort to get his crop to market, King allowed Southern Pacific Railroad to lay tracks across King Ranch land. The terminus was a station known as King's. (cit)