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I have collected the following
factoids over the years. If you have more for me, please
e-mail me (chuck@kcuhc.com) so that I
can add to my list. Also, if you can provide missing detail to
any of these items, please share your knowledge!
Holt
invented the caterpillar tractor in Stockton. It was invented
because wheeled vehicles tended to sink into the marshy land
around Stockton. Tanks, farm and construction equipment are
the main users of this invention.
Stockton has the
furthest east deep-water channel on the West Coast. Ships from
all over the world visit Stockton.
Stockton has a
large airport. The airport is under utilized for commercial
purposes, but it is used for touch-and-go landings by C-5
Galaxy jets and is capable of handling 747s. I understand that
the Stockton airport was a key location for the transport of
supplies during World War II.
University of the
Pacific (UOP) is a respected university throughout the
country, and is right here in Stockton.
San Joaquin
Delta College, Stockton's community college is a fantastic
school. It was the recipient of the first Electron Microscope
outside of Los Angeles and San Francisco in California! Delta
has one of the largest collections of hand- bells in
existence. The Warren Atherton Theater on the Delta campus is
large, and has been praised by virtually every conductor or
performer to visit the theater. In addition to the academic
qualities of Delta, it was voted the most beautiful college
campus in the United States in 1992!
Washington Mutual
-- formally American Savings Bank -- formally American Savings
& Loan -- formally State Savings -- was the largest
Savings and Loan in the United States up until recent years
when efforts to strengthen the S&L resulted in a
sizing-down. American Savings Bank is headquartered in
Stockton, is a major employer, and recently constructed an
attractive building in downtown Stockton.
Nugget
Distributors, (an organization under Premier Foodservice
Distributors of America, Inc.) is one of the largest
foodservice cooperatives of its kind in the country. This
cooperative combines the buying power of over 150 independent
foodservice companies. The entire sales for this cooperative
are in excess of five billion dollars. Next time you visit a
restaurant take a peek at the sugar, you may find it was
distributed by Nugget. In 2002 UniPro Foodservice, Inc., a
competing foodservice group merged with Premier and eliminated
the Premier company. Most staff were laid off and the
few remaining mostly relocated to Atlanta, Georgia.
Fortunately the Nugget label continues and is UniPro's largest
private label. UniPro is the largest buyer of food in
the United Stated with over 27 Billion in purchases (May
2003).
Duraflame fireplace logs by California Cedar
Products is located in Stockton. Every Duraflame log you see
is a little piece of Stockton.
Stockton also has a hat
manufacturer, Dorfman Pacific. When in Maui a while back, I
found hats from here! I now own two Dorfman Pacific hats
check your labels!
The famous paddle-wheel ships
"Delta Queen" and "Delta King" were constructed in Stockton.
The Delta King is currently in Sacramento. The Delta Queen is
still operating on the Mississippi. They were constructed just
under the I-5 bridge over the channel.
Stockton once
had a brick maker. Around the world you'll find bricks with
"STOCKTON" stamped on them. While in Hawaii I was pleased to
see a shopping center with thousands of bricks advertising our
city.
The hit song from the 1940's "Tuxedo Junction" was written in
Stockton on the Miracle Mile. (The Tuxedo Junction was at the
same location as the one still standing (now called "Bull N
Bear"). It was however back from the street a small distance,
so it is not the same physical building.)
Forty Nine
Drug Company is the oldest pharmacy in California, it is
currently located on 937 North Yosemite. They have three other
interesting factoids:
- They had the first phone in Stockton.
- Their phone number was:1 Later, because of the
population boom, their phone number was: 1849.
- They had the first brick building in the Central Valley,
constructed from bricks brought over from San
Francisco.
Several movies have been filmed in
Stockton over the years. Some contained quite a bit of filming
while others small portions. The downtown buildings appear in
many backdrops, the delta is often used in "Vietnam" movies,
and UOP has been featured several times. The following is not
a complete list, but a hefty one:
- All the King's Men
- An American Murder
- The Big Country
- Bound for Glory
- Cool Hand Luke
- Fat City
- Friendly Fire
- Glory Days
- God's Little Acre
- High Time
- Jungle Wolf II
- More American Graffiti
- Oklahoma Crude
- Porgy & Bess
- Rampage
- RPM
- Sam Whiskey
- Strawberry Statement
- The Sure Thing
- Valentino's Return
- Valley Girl
- World's Greatest Athlete
- Always
- American Graffiti II
- Atlanta Child Murders
- Birdy
- Dreamscape
- Hot Shots! Part Duex
- Raiders of the Lost Ark (Indiana Jone's University)
- 7 Brides for 7 Brothers
- Skipping
- This is Spinal Tap
- Blood Alley
- Animal House
- Flubber
- Dead Man on Campus
- Cyote (not widely distributed)
- Coast to Coast
- Blind Man Sees Farthest (short flick)
- I also recall a movie that used the historic El Dorado
School about 1979, maybe something like "Welcome Home Mrs.
???"
- And who could forget "The Big Valley"?
- Take the Money and Run
- Dirty Mary Crazy Larry
Many entertainers from
the 1940's (i.e., Bob Hope, etc.) have visited Stockton. Also
many rock groups perform at Spanos Center and at the County
Fair.
Stockton has one of the highest rated fire
departments in the country.
Spanos, a predominate
family in Stockton is owner of the San Diego Chargers, is a
significant land developer and has brought countless
politicians to the Stockton area.
The Grupe family,
significant land developers and farmers, are located in
Stockton.
Stockton's old neighborhoods contain many
old homes (late 1800s) -- many restored -- which are rich
with personality and character.
Few large cities
(250,000+ people) have as many beautiful large trees as
Stockton does. Combined with the water, the trees help make
Stockton feel smaller than it really is.
Stockton is
the county seat for San Joaquin County.
Graham
Brothers Inc. produced trucks for Dodge in
Stockton, around 1921. I understand the location of this plant
was where Harding Way and Waterloo Road meet (currently a
Lipton plant).
The "California Raisins" are from
San Joaquin County.
Stockton is Pacific Bell's
northern switching office for the 209 Area Code.
Sharp
Army Depot is located in Stockton.
Rough and Ready
Island Naval base is located in Stockton.
Stockton is
a major center for railroads. Southern Pacific -- Western
Pacific -- Tidewater Southern, now part of Union Pacific and
Santa Fe, now part of Burlington Northern Railroad call
Stockton home. In additon two other small railroads, Central
California Traction and Stockton Terminal & Eastern
Railroads are located here.
The Fantastic Four (comic
books and cartoons) originated in Stockton, it begins: "It was
a dark and stormy night in Stockton, California".
Chris Isaak has been in at least one movie (Married to
the Mob) and has sung popular songs, such as "Wicked Game" and
"Can't Do a Thing to Stop Me".
Stockton is about as
central California as you can get. Within two hours you can be
in a large variety of different places -- the state capital
(Sacramento), "The City" (San Francisco), into the mountains,
the coast, trees, lakes, fields, or anyplace you could want to
be.
Stockton has CHARACTER. It has history. It has a
varied ethnic mixture, helping to provide an exciting
assortment of restaurants and people.
Tille Lewis
Foods, who was responsible for a large variety of foods was
based in Stockton (I believe after her death it was sold).
The famous baseball poem "Casey at the Bat" was
written in Stockton (affectionately known as "Mudville" in
those times). The poem appeared in the San Francisco Examiner
on June 3, 1888. If you are familiar with the Mudville Nine
(formally the Stockton Ports) baseball team, you know that
their mascot is none other than... Casey! Casey at the Bat has
been brought to the screen five times, including a Disney
cartoon feature, with a follow-up piece about Casey years
later fathering all girls and discovers they're all crack
baseball players.
Stockton's original name was
Tuleburg. It was later renamed by Captain Weber to honor his
friend Commodore Stockton. Anybody know the year the name
changed?
Commodore Stockton was a world traveler and
has at least one other city (that I know of) named after him
(in Texas).
Effective July 17, 1998 the San Francisco
49ers are using the University of the Pacifics football
stadium (A.A. Stagg Stadium where the UOP Tigers play) as
their summer training center.
Amos Alonzo Stagg was an
All-American End in 1889, world famous coach at Chicago and a
leader of olympic teams. He went on to become a successful
coach and teach at COP (College of the Pacific, now UOP).
Stockton honors him with a high school named after him.
Stockton was proclaimed the All America City in 1999.
Janet Leigh (the original "scream queen" from the
Psycho shower scene) graduated from UOP. Her daughter (Jamie
Lee Curtis (another "Scream Queen" from the Halloween movies)
also went to UOP for a short time).
Maxine Hong
Kingston Award-winning author of WOMAN WARRIOR: MEMOIRS OF A
GIRLHOOD AMONG GHOSTS and CHINA MEN; both books set in her
childhood home of Stockton. Both books won a National Book
Critics Circle Award.
Stockton was the first community
in California to have an American name, all others being of
Spanish or Native American origin.
U-Haul established
their first rental store in Stockton in 1975. For some
interesting factoids about U-Haul and their great American
journey, click
here.
Connell Motor Truck used to be on Highway 99,
it was home to the first Peterbilt truck
dealership.
Stockton isn't perfect -- far from it. The
national media has put out the word about children being shot
in our school yards, about gang violence, crime, welfare
fraud, and drugs. The national media has delivered what people
thrive on bad news. The national media does not boast our
rich history and qualities. If nothing else, I hope that after
reading this, if you are living in Stockton you'll respect it
a little more. If you're not in Stockton, perhaps you'll think
a little better of us.
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