Stockton, California

AT A GLANCE STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA WHAT: A city of 310,000 WHERE: On the San Joaquin River, in California’s Central Valley WEBSITE: www.stocktonca.gov S tockton, California, located in the Central Valley, is the county seat of San Joaquin County, and home to nearly 310,000 people. The city was founded by Captain Charles Maria Weber in 1849, and named after Robert F. Stockton, a United States Navy commodore, notable in the capture of California during the Mexican–American War. During the California Gold Rush, the San Joaquin River was navigable by ocean-going vessels, making Stockton a natural inland seaport and point of supply and departure for prospective gold-miners. From the mid-19th century onward, Stockton became the region’s transportation hub, dealing mainly with agricultural products. Its location at the head of a navigable channel, approximately 90 miles inland from San Francisco Bay, allows the city to continue to serve as a major shipping point for many of the agricultural and manufactured products of Northern California. Rich peat soil and a temperate climate also make the area around Stockton one of the richest agricultural and dairy regions in STRENGTH IN DIVERSITY