Stratford is a Census-Designated Place in Kings County. Home to 1115 people, the town was originally named Stratton in 1901 for William Stratton of the Empire Land and Water Company. The name was changed to Stratford in 1906 due to the efforts of the local women's club. The first post office at Stratford opened in 1910. From the 1930s through the 1970s, Stratford was the home of Irigaray's, a restaurant run by Mariana Irigaray and her daughter Alice. They pioneered a Basque-inspired version of what would come to be know as California cuisine.