Stockton, California
Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California.[18] Stockton is the most populous city in the county, the 11th-most populous city in California and the 58th-most populous city in the United States. Stockton's population in 2020 was 320,804. It was named an All-America City in 1999, 2004, 2015, and again in 2017 and 2018. The city is located on the San Joaquin River in the northern San Joaquin Valley. It lies at the southeastern corner of a large inland river delta that isolates it from other nearby cities such as Sacramento and those of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Stockton
United States
July 23, 1850[4]
Harry E. Black[12]
65.25 sq mi (169.01 km2)
62.17 sq mi (161.02 km2)
3.08 sq mi (7.99 km2) 4.76%
13 ft (4 m)
320,804
4,900/sq mi (1,900/km2)
414,847 (US: 101st)
4,486.7/sq mi (1,732.3/km2)
779,233 (US: 76th)
Stocktonian
Stockton was founded by Charles Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquired Rancho Campo de los Franceses. The city is named after Robert F. Stockton,[19] and it was the first community in California to have a name not of Spanish or Native American origin.
Built during the California Gold Rush, Stockton's seaport serves as a gateway to the Central Valley and beyond. It provided easy access for trade and transportation to the southern gold mines. The University of the Pacific (UOP), chartered in 1851, is the oldest university in California, and has been located in Stockton since 1923. In 2012, Stockton filed for what was then the largest municipal bankruptcy in US history – which had multiple causes, including financial mismanagement in the 1990s, generous fringe benefits to unionized city employees,[20] and the 2008 financial crisis. Stockton successfully exited bankruptcy in February 2015.
Geography[edit]
Stockton is situated amidst the farmland of California's San Joaquin Valley, a subregion of the Central Valley. In and around Stockton are thousands of miles of waterways that make up the California Delta.
Interstate 5 and State Route 99, inland California's major north–south highways, pass through the city. State Route 4 and the dredged San Joaquin River connect the city with the San Francisco Bay Area to its west, creating the Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel. Stockton and Sacramento are California's only inland sea ports.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city occupies a total area of 64.8 square miles (168 km2), of which 61.7 square miles (160 km2) is land and 3.1 square miles (8.0 km2), comprising 4.76%, is water.
Stockton is home to two minor league franchises:
The Stockton Ports Baseball Team play their home games at Banner Island Ballpark, a 5,000 seat facility built for the team in downtown Stockton. The Ports played their home games at Billy Hebert Field from 1953 to 2004. The Ports have been a single A team in Stockton since 1946 in the California Minor Leagues. Stockton has minor league baseball dating back to 1886.[95] The Ports have produced 244 Major League players including Gary Sheffield, Dan Plesac, Doug Jones, Pat Listach, and Stockton's own Dallas Braden among others.[96] The Ports have eleven championships and are currently the A class team for the Oakland Athletics. The Ports had the best win–loss percentage in all Minor League Baseball in the 1980s.[97]
A 10,000-seat arena, Stockton Arena, located in Downtown Stockton, opened in December 2005 and is home to the Stockton Kings (NBAGL)
Stockton is home to the oldest NASCAR certified race track West of the Mississippi. The Stockton 99 Speedway opened in 1947 and is a quarter mile oval paved track with grandstands that can accommodate 5,000 spectators.
Stockton's designation for Little League Baseball is District 8, which has 12 leagues of teams within the city. Stockton also has several softball leagues including Stockton Girls Softball Association, and Port City Softball League, each having several hundred members.
Rowing Regatta featuring Junior, Collegiate and Master Level Rowing & Sculling Competition is organized by the University of the Pacific[98] annually on the Stockton's Deep Water Channel. Teams from throughout Northern California compete in this Olympic sport which is also the oldest collegiate sport in the United States.
Stockton hosts a wide variety of sports events every year: from resident hockey, baseball and soccer games through basketball at the University of the Pacific and at the Stockton Arena; golf championships at two 18-hole courses and a Par 3 Executive Course; rowing, sailing and fishing on the Delta and the Stockton Channel; martial arts and cage fighting. There are four public golf courses open year-round, Van Buskirk, Swenson, and The Reserve at Spanos Park and Elkhorn Golf Course. Private courses include The Stockton Golf & Country Club, Oakmoore, and Brookside Golf & Country Club.
Stockton is one of a handful of cities that lays claim to being the inspiration for the 1888 poem "Casey at the Bat."[99] The University of the Pacific was the summer home of the San Francisco 49ers Summer Training Camp from 1998 through 2002.
Stockton is also the base of UFC fighters Nick and Nate Diaz. Nick is the former WEC and Strikeforce Welterweight champion,[100] while Nate is the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 5.[101] Both brothers are Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts under Cesar Gracie[102] and operate a school in Stockton which teaches Brazilian jiu-jitsu to children and youth.[103][104]
Awards and recognition[edit]
Stockton received the All-America City award from the National Civic League in 1999, 2004, 2015, and 2017, a total of four times. 2004's award was based on a 60-member delegation's presentation titled "The Dream Lives On!", and featured three community-driven projects: Community Partnership for Families, Downtown Alliance, and the Peace Keeper Program.[160] The 1999 award recognized the Apollo Night Talent and Performing Series, the conversion of the Stockton Developmental Center into an off-campus center for the California State University at Stanislaus, and the LEAP (Let Education Attack Pollution) program.[161]
Sunset magazine named Stockton Best Tree City in the western United States in March 2002,[162] and "Best of the West Food Fest" in March 2000. Stockton contains 49 city, state, and national historical landmarks, dating as far back as 1855.
In February 2009, and again in February 2011, Stockton was named "America's Most Miserable City" by Forbes, reflecting the city's issues with commuting times, violent crime rates, income tax levels, and unemployment rates. Stockton had placed second in this listing in 2008.[163]
