Stanislaus County, California

County of Stanislaus
—  County  —

Seal
Location in the state of California
California's location in the United States
Country  United States
State  California
Region San Joaquin Valley
Incorporated 1854
County seat Modesto
Area
 • Total 3,923 km2 (1,514.67 sq mi)
 • Land 3,868.9 km2 (1,493.79 sq mi)
 • Water 54.1 km2 (20.88 sq mi)
Population (2010)
 • Total 514,453
 • Density 131.1/km2 (339.6/sq mi)
Time zone Pacific Standard Time (UTC-8)
 • Summer (DST) Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)
Website www.stancounty.com

Stanislaus County is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. As the price of housing has increased in the San Francisco Bay Area, many people who work in the southern reaches of the Bay Area have opted for the longer commute and moved to Stanislaus County for the relatively affordable housing. As of the 2010 census, the population was 514,453 up from 446,997 at the 2000 census. The county seat is Modesto.

Stanislaus County is included in the Modesto Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Contents

History

The county is named for the Stanislaus River, first discovered by a European, Gabriel Moraga, in 1806, and later renamed Rio Estanislao in honor of Estanislao, a mission-educated renegade Native American chief who led a band of Indians in a series of battles against Mexican troops until finally being defeated by General Mariano Vallejo in 1826. Estanislao was his baptismal name, the Spanish rendition of Stanislaus, itself the Latin rendition of the name of an 11th century Catholic Saint Stanislaus the Martyr.

Between 1843 and 1846 when California was a province of independent Mexico, five Mexican land grants of a total of 113,135 acres (457.8 km2), or over forty-four square miles were granted in Stanislaus County. Rancho Orestimba y Las Garzas, Rancho Pescadero and Rancho Del Puerto were located on the west side of the San Joaquin River. Rancho Del Rio Estanislao and Rancho Thompson were on the north side of the Stanislaus River. Additionally in 1844, Salomon Pico received a Mexican land grant of 58,000 acres (230 km2) in the San Joaquin Valley, somewhere near the Stanislaus River and the San Joaquin River in what is now Stanislaus County. However the grant was never confirmed by the Land Commission.[1]

Stanislaus County was formed from part of Tuolumne County in 1854.

Name pronunciation

There is a somewhat lively local debate as to the proper pronunciation of the name Stanislaus. Some residents pronounce it STAN-ěs-läw, with no final S. This is no doubt influenced by the Spanish form Estanislao and further reinforced by the fact that the San Joaquin Valley was settled by immigrants from the southern states following the Civil War, and the southern dialect tends to soften all trailing consonants. Despite this, the silent final S has never been universal, and other ethnic and historical influences tend to argue against it. Several towns within Stanislaus and neighboring counties along the Stanislaus River, including Turlock, Valley Home, and Ripon, were founded and settled by immigrants from Dutch-, German-, and Danish-speaking regions where Stanislaus is a traditional men's given name (and like Estanislao, a variation of Stanley). The German-derived pronunciation, STAN-ĭs-lŏss, maintains the trailing S (and also puts a bit more emphasis on the second syllable). At any rate, unaware of the name's complex local history, most outsiders and new residents pronounce Stanislaus with the final S, which is arguably the more phonetically intuitive method, but both pronunciations are considered acceptable.

Geography and environment

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 1,514.67 square miles (3,923.0 km2), of which 1,493.79 square miles (3,868.9 km2) (or 98.62%) is land and 20.88 square miles (54.1 km2) (or 1.38%) is water.[2] There are a number or rare and endangered species found in Stanislaus County. The Beaked Clarkia, (Clarkia rostrata), is listed as a candidate for the Federal Endangered Species List. It has only been found in blue oak-Digger Pine associations in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, a habitat which occurs at moderately high elevations. Colusa Grass, (Neostapfsia colusana) is listed as endangered by the State. It is restricted to vernal pools. (Torrey, 1989)

Stanislaus County has historically been divided socially and economically by the north-flowing San Joaquin River, which provided a natural barrier to trade and travel for much of the county's history. Isolated from the main rail corridors through the county and the irrigation projects that generated much of the region's economic prosperity, the part of Stanislaus County west of the river (known to locals as the "West Side" of the county) has largely remained rural and economically dependent on agricultural activities. Because of its proximity to Interstate 5 and the California Aqueduct some towns within this area, including Patterson and Newman, have experienced tremendous growth and are being transformed into bedroom communities for commuters from the nearby San Francisco Bay Area, while others (including Westley and Crows Landing) have been almost entirely overlooked by development and remain tiny farming communities.

Cities, CDPs and unincorporated communities

Incorporated cities

Census-designated places

Unincorporated communities

Adjacent counties

National protected area

Transportation infrastructure

Major highways

Public transportation

Airports

Modesto City-County Airport has a number of scheduled passenger flights. Other (general aviation) airports around the county include Oakdale Airport, Patterson Airport, and Turlock Airpark.

Demographics

2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that Stanislaus County had a population of 514,453. The racial makeup of Stanislaus County was 337,342 (65.6%) White, 14,721 (2.9%) African American, 5,902 (1.1%) Native American, 26,090 (5.1%) Asian (1.5% Indian, 1.1% Filipino, 0.7% Cambodian, 0.5% Chinese, 0.3% Vietnamese, 0.3% Laotian, 0.1% Japanese, 0.1% Korean, 0.1% Cambodian), 3,401 (0.7%) Pacific Islander, 99,210 (19.3%) from other races, and 27,787 (5.4%) from two or more races; Hispanic or Latino of any race were 215,658 persons (41.9%); 37.6% of Stainslaus County is Mexican, 0.6% Puerto Rican, 0.5% Salvadoran, 0.2% Nicaraguan, and 0.2% Guatemalan.[3]

Population reported at 2010 United States Census
The County
Total
Population
White
African
American
Native
American
Asian
Pacific
Islander
other
races
two or
more races
Hispanic
or Latino
(of any race)
Stanislaus County 514,453 337,342 14,721 5,902 26,090 3,401 99,210 27,787 215,658
Incorporated
cities
Total
Population
White
African
American
Native
American
Asian
Pacific
Islander
other
races
two or
more races
Hispanic
or Latino
(of any race)
Ceres 45,417 26,217 1,185 609 3,093 346 11,463 2,504 25,436
Hughson 6,640 5,125 55 74 97 13 982 294 2,871
Modesto 201,165 130,833 8,396 2,494 13,557 1,924 31,244 12,717 71,381
Newman 10,224 6,812 234 106 191 40 2,287 554 6,299
Oakdale 20,675 16,558 163 210 463 37 2,386 858 5,398
Patterson 20,413 10,117 1,291 221 1,069 280 6,235 1,200 11,971
Riverbank 22,678 14,951 480 269 770 88 4,949 1,171 11,822
Turlock 68,549 47,864 1,160 601 3,865 313 11,328 3,418 24,957
Waterford 8,456 6,003 77 110 129 11 1,740 386 3,579
Census-designated
places
Total
Population
White
African
American
Native
American
Asian
Pacific
Islander
other
races
two or
more races
Hispanic
or Latino
(of any race)
Airport 1,964 1,108 41 47 66 3 564 135 1,250
Bret Harte 5,152 2,441 52 50 40 45 2,327 197 4,272
Bystrom 4,008 2,006 79 62 91 18 1,580 172 3,053
Cowan 318 274 0 2 0 0 32 10 161
Crows Landing 355 162 5 1 0 0 182 5 248
Del Rio 1,270 1,027 25 5 143 1 27 42 107
Denair 4,404 3,425 25 55 42 4 699 154 1,423
Diablo Grande 826 510 77 3 70 6 77 83 254
East Oakdale 2,762 2,530 7 18 60 5 78 64 284
Empire 4,189 2,274 22 56 59 8 1,500 270 2,275
Grayson 952 455 17 4 3 0 417 56 819
Hickman 641 503 1 15 4 0 98 20 180
Keyes 5,601 3,109 71 60 200 32 1,919 210 3,233
Monterey Park Tract 133 77 17 0 0 0 38 1 112
Parklawn 1,337 673 24 22 7 0 541 70 1,090
Riverdale Park 1,128 575 6 25 29 0 414 79 700
Rouse 2,005 896 101 24 199 12 658 115 1,280
Salida 13,722 8,479 435 111 669 83 3,134 811 6,426
Shackelford 3,371 1,560 27 63 59 1 1,496 165 2,685
Valley Home 228 186 2 3 0 0 27 10 34
West Modesto 5,682 3,020 136 84 263 8 1,885 286 3,526
Westley 603 212 0 5 1 0 368 17 579
Unincorporated
communities
Total
Population
White
African
American
Native
American
Asian
Pacific
Islander
other
races
two or
more races
Hispanic
or Latino
(of any race)
All others not CDPs (combined) 49,585 37,360 510 493 851 123 8,535 1,713 17,953

2000

As of the census[4] of 2000, there were 446,997 people, 145,146 households, and 109,585 families residing in the county. The population density was 299 people per square mile (116/km²). There were 150,807 housing units at an average density of 101 per square mile (39/km²). The racial/ethnic makeup of the county was 69.33% White, 2.58% Black, 4.22% Asian, 1.27% Native American, 0.34% Pacific Islander, 16.82% from other races, and 5.44% from two or more races. 31.74% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 8.4% were of German, 6.3% English, 6.0% American, 5.5% Irish, and 5.1% Portuguese ancestry according to Census 2000. 67.8% spoke English, 23.7% Spanish, 1.5% Syriac, and 1.3% Portuguese as their first language.

There were 145,146 households out of which 41.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.0% were married couples living together, 13.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.5% were non-families. 19.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.03 and the average family size was 3.47.

In the county the population was spread out with 31.1% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 29.0% from 25 to 44, 19.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 96.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.4 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $40,101, and the median income for a family was $44,703. Males had a median income of $36,969 versus $26,595 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,913. About 12.3% of families and 16.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.5% of those under age 18 and 8.8% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Stanislaus County vote
by party in presidential elections
Year GOP DEM Others
2008 48.2% 77,497 49.9% 80,279 2.3% 3,736
2004 58.7% 85,407 40.4% 58,829 1.0% 1,388
2000 52.4% 67,188 44.0% 56,448 3.6% 4,631
1996 44.8% 52,403 45.9% 53,738 9.3% 10,866
1992 36.9% 47,275 41.0% 52,415 22.1% 28,315
1988 53.1% 51,648 45.9% 44,685 1.0% 982
1984 59.2% 55,665 39.9% 37,459 0.9% 861
1980 49.4% 41,595 40.0% 33,683 10.6% 8,908
1976 44.8% 32,937 52.3% 38,448 2.8% 2,080
1972 51.4% 39,521 45.5% 35,005 3.1% 2,341
1968 45.5% 29,573 48.1% 31,316 6.4% 4,174
1964 33.7% 21,973 66.1% 43,078 0.1% 77
1960 49.6% 30,213 49.8% 30,302 0.6% 375
1956 48.6% 26,695 51.1% 28,040 0.4% 192
1952 55.6% 29,270 43.4% 22,837 1.1% 570
1948 48.4% 18,564 47.8% 18,350 3.8% 1,457
1944 47.2% 14,297 51.3% 15,537 1.4% 437
1940 46.6% 14,803 52.0% 16,494 1.4% 449
1936 35.4% 8,613 63.1% 15,341 1.4% 348
1932 36.2% 7,614 58.6% 12,336 5.2% 1,092
1928 67.1% 10,753 31.6% 5,063 1.3% 203
1924 56.9% 7,569 9.6% 1,274 33.6% 4,469
1920 61.6% 7,038 26.7% 3,055 11.6% 1,330

Stanislaus is a generally Republican county in Presidential and congressional elections. The last Democrat to win a majority in the county was Jimmy Carter in 1976, although Barack Obama won a plurality in 2008, as did Bill Clinton in both 1992 and 1996.

Stanislaus is part of California's 18th and 19th congressional districts, which are held respectively by Democrat Dennis Cardoza and Republican Jeff Denham. In the State Assembly Stanislaus is in the 17th, 25th, and 26th districts, which are held by Democrat Cathleen Galgiani and Republicans Kristin Olsen and Bill Berryhill respectively. In the State Senate, Stanislaus is part of the 12th and 14th Senate districts, which are held by Republicans Anthony Cannella and Tom Berryhill, respectively.

On November 4, 2008 Stanislaus County voted 67.9 % for Proposition 8 which amended the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriages.

Economy

Agriculture is Stanislaus County's number two industry, with wine grapes being the primary agricultural product.

Media

See also

References

Further reading

External links