About Stockton

The City of Stockton is one of California's fastest growing communities. Stockton is currently the 12th largest city in California with a dynamic, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural population of over 260,000.

With over 100,000 trees, Stockton was recently recognized by Sunset Magazine as the "Best Tree City" in the western United States. In 1999 and 2004, Stockton was designated an All-America City by the National Civic League.

Location

Known as California’s "Sunrise Seaport," the City of Stockton  is located at the confluence of the San Joaquin River and the  Delta Region waterways, connecting Stockton, Sacramento and San Francisco, 90 miles west.

History

The town itself traces its origins back to the California Gold Rush of 1849. The infant city was the destination for steamboats full of miners on the trail to the Mother Lode. The city has had various names at different times. The names included Slough City, Windmill City, Tuleberg, Mudville and Gas City. Stockton was the first California city to use natural gas for lighting and heating.

When the Gold Rush panned out, broke gold-seekers returned to the area around Stockton and built elaborate networks of levees in the Delta, creating new islands on which they grew crops. They dredged the resulting network of rivers and improved the ability of Central Valley farmers to get their produce to profitable Bay Area markets. Long before the interstate highway system, the delta waterways were the transport system of choice for getting products to market.

The San Joaquin and Sacramento River Delta also provide a variety of recreational opportunities, including boating, fishing, water-skiing, and sailing. The Stockton area has been the site for a number of hollywood films such as "Cool Hand Luke" and 1949 Academy Award winner, "All the King's Men."