MANTECA, CALIFORNIA

'Manteca' is a city in , USA. As of November 2005, the city population was approximately 61,927 residents. Manteca was well-known in Northern California as the location of The Manteca Waterslides. However, in September of 2004, this waterslide park was closed.

Contents

History

Geography

Demographics

Transit

Schools

High Schools

Elementary Schools

Famous people from Manteca

External links

History

'Manteca' is a city in the central valley of California, about 80 miles east of San Francisco. It was founded in 1861 by Joshua Cowell. Cowell claimed about 1,000 acres (4 km²) and built their houses on what is now the corner of Main and Yosemite where the Bank of America stands. In 1873, the Central Pacific Railroad was put directly through town and "Cowell Station", a boxcar on the side of the tracks, was made a stop. Joshua Cowell's brother, Wright Cowell, had already named a "Cowell Station" near Tracy, California, so the name "Monteca" was chosen instead. However, an unfortunate misprinting of the train tickets caused the city’s name to show as "Manteca" — Spanish for "butter" or "lard". Since it would have been expensive and difficult to reprint the tickets, the name of the city was changed instead. In 1918, Manteca was incorporated as a city and Joshua Cowell became its first mayor.
Manteca's slogan is "The Family City", and it lies at a crossroads of major highways and railroads. As recently as the 1970s Manteca existed primarily on agriculture, and was still barely a stop between two freeways, Interstate 5 and California State Highway 99. The continuing rise in bay area housing prices has caused more workers to look eastward for a cheaper place to live or a better place to raise their families. Since the construction of the 120 bypass portion of California State Route 120, Manteca has become a popular choice for these commuters. The 1990s saw an increase in the city's population, and the construction of its fourth high school. The population of Mantca continues to increase, with some housing being constructed on what was once farmland to the north and southeast.
A recurring name in Manteca is "East Union". It was first used in 1857 for a school established in what is now Manteca. The school was named East Union in order to differentiate it from Union School, which is in an area now within Lathrop, California. A cemetery named East Union was established in 1872 and remains one of San Joaquin County's oldest landmarks. A road bordering the cemetery was named Union Road after the cemetery and is now one of the main streets through the city. In 1966, the city of Manteca started another high school to relieve overcrowding in Manteca High School. The new school was given the name East Union High School in tribute to an old farmhouse school.
Large construction projects are underway or planned in an attempt to establish Manteca as a regional shopping and entertainment center. Projects include the now finished Big League Dreams Sports Park, The planned Promenade Shops at Orchard Valley lifestyle mall, an outdoor strip mall, a possible future performing arts center, a possible future convention center, the newly finished Stadium (shopping) Center, and many corporate/chain hotels.
In November, 2006, the sales tax in Manteca was raised from 7.75 percent to 8.25 percent.

Geography

Manteca is located at (37.802777, -121.220818).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 41.2 km² (15.9 mi²), all land.
Neighboring towns include Lathrop, Ripon, Escalon, and Tracy. Manteca is also in between the larger cities of Modesto and Stockton.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 49,258 people, 16,368 households, and 12,488 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,195.4/km² (3,095.8/mi²). There were 16,937 housing units at an average density of 411.0/km² (1,064.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 74.17% White, 2.85% African American, 1.31% Native American, 3.52% Asian, 0.36% Pacific Islander, 11.56% from other races, and 6.23% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 25.10% of the population.
There were 16,368 households out of which 43.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.2% were married couples living together, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.7% were non-families. 18.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.98 and the average family size was 3.39.
In the city the population was spread out with 31.6% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 30.5% from 25 to 44, 19.8% from 45 to 64, and 9.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 96.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $46,677, and the median income for a family was $51,587. Males had a median income of $43,283 versus $27,772 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,241. About 7.2% of families and 9.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.7% of those under age 18 and 6.4% of those age 65 or over.

Transit

Bus service in Manteca is provided by Manteca Transit.
A regional rail service for commuters to San Jose is provided by the Altamont Commuter Express, or ACE.

Schools

Schools in Manteca are part of the Manteca Unified School District. There are no middle schools; elementary school continues through the 8th grade, with a mix of both year-round and traditional schools. Manteca Unified School District has 19 elementary schools, 4 high schools, and 1 continuation school.

High Schools

★ Calla High (continuation)

★ East Union High

★ Manteca High

★ Sierra High

★ Weston Ranch High

Elementary Schools

★ August Knodt

★ Brock Elliott

★ French Camp

★ George Komure

★ George McParland

★ Golden West

★ Great Valley

★ Joseph Widmer Jr

★ Joshua Cowell

★ Lathrop

★ Lincoln

★ Neil Hafley

★ New Haven

★ Nile Garden

★ Sequoia

★ Shasta

★ Stella Brockman

★ Veritas

★ Walter E. Woodward

★ Manteca Christian (private)

★ Plumfield Christian Academy (private)

★ St. Anthony's (private)

Famous people from Manteca

★ Marliece Andrada - March 1998 ''Playboy'' Playmate

★ April Bowlby - actress

★ Scott Brooks, assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings. He also attended East Union High School.

★ Mario Cain Candini AKA Milo Candini, 1917-1998, Baseball player 1943-51.

★ Chris Carr, motorcycle racer (Note: Born in Stockton, Chris's family lives in Manteca, and his mom taught English at Manteca High)

★ Patricia Miranda - bronze medal winner in wrestling at the 2004 Summer Olympics

★ Scott Speed - Formula One, race car driver

★ John Steinbeck - Author, "Of Mice and Men," "The Grapes of Wrath." Worked one summer at Manteca's Spreckels Sugar processing plant.

★ Jeweliette Valmont AKA Ava Vincent - Actress, Penthouse model. Attended East Union High School.

★ Dennis Weaver - Actor, "Gunsmoke." Briefly attended Manteca High

External links

★ City of Manteca website

★ Manteca Chamber of Commerce website

★ ''The Manteca Bulletin'', Manteca's daily newspaper

★ ''The Sun Post'', Manteca's weekly newspaper

★ Manteca Unified School District