Local city information for Stockton, CA

Stockton, the county seat of San Joaquin County, is currently the 13th largest city in the U.S. state of California. Stockton is located in Northern California south of Sacramento and north of Modesto. Stockton's population estimate for January 1, 2008, according to the California Department of Finance, is 290,141.

Sorrounding Interstate 5, State Route 99 and State Route 4, Stockton is connected westward with San Francisco Bay by the river’s 78-mile channel, and is, with Sacramento, one of the state’s two inland sea ports. Stockton is surrounded by the farmland of the California Central Valley. In and around Stockton are thousands of miles of waterways and rivers that make up the California Delta. It is also a rail center and a processing and distribution point for farm products and wines from the Central Valley.

Over the past decade, Stockton and the nearby cities of Tracy and Manteca have experienced a population boom, due in large part to thousands of people settling in the area in an effort to escape the San Francisco Bay Area's relatively high cost of living. This influx of new residents, however, resulted in a sharp increase in the cost of living of Stockton (although it is still significantly lower than any Bay Area city of comparable size).

As a result of the population increase, Stockton found itself squarely at the center of the United States' speculative housing bubble in the 2000s. Real estate in Stockton more than tripled in value between 1998 and 2005, but when the bubble burst in 2007, the ensuing financial crisis arguably hit Stockton harder than any other city in America. Stockton housing prices fell 39% in the 2008 fiscal year, and the city had the country's highest foreclosure rate (9.5%) as well. Because of the shrinking economy, Stockton also had an unemployment rate of 13.3% in 2008, one of the highest marks in the U.S. Stockton has also been called one America's most dangerous cities because of its crime rate.

The first human beings to settle along the streams and riverbanks in and around what is now Stockton were countless generations of Native Americans, including members of the Yokuts and Valley and Sierra Miwok tribes, who lived in the delta's waterways, using them for food and transportation. The northern San Joaquin Valley was also the southern end of the Siskiyou Trail, a centuries-old footpath leading through the Sacramento Valley, over the Cascades, and onward to Oregon.

When Captain Charles Maria Weber, a German immigrant, decided to try his hand at gold mining in late 1848, he soon discovered that serving the needs of gold-seekers was a more profitable venture. It was for this reason that he founded Stockton in 1849 when he purchased over 49,000 acres (200 km²) of land through a Spanish land grant. The area now known as Weber Point is the same spot where Captain Weber built the first permanent residence in the San Joaquin Valley.

During its early years, Stockton was known by several names, including "Tuleburg", "Gas City" and "Mudville". Captain Weber decided on "Stockton" in honor of Commodore Robert F. Stockton. Stockton was the first community in California to have a name not of Spanish or Native American origin.

The city was officially incorporated on July 23, 1850, by the County Court, and the first city election was held on July 31, 1850. In 1851, the City of Stockton received its charter from the State of California. Early settlers included gold seekers from Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, the Pacific Islands, Mexico and Canada. The historical population diversity is reflected in Stockton street names, architecture, numerous ethnic festivals, and in the faces and heritage of a majority of its citizens.

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