Please add profiles of those who were born, lived or died in Modesto, California.

Modesto is the county seat of Stanislaus County and is located in the Central Valley.

Official Website

History

Wikipedia

The City of Modesto was originally a stop on the railroad connecting Sacramento to Los Angeles. When Modesto was founded in 1870, it was to be named Ralston after financier William C. Ralston. Ralston's modesty prompted him to ask that another name be found, and the town was named Modesto in recognition of his modesty.

With fields of grain, a nearby Tuolumne River for grain barges, and railroad traffic, the town grew. Irrigation water came from dams installed in the foothills, and irrigated fields of vegetables and fruit and nut trees flourished. During World War II, the area provided canned goods, powdered milk, and eggs for the US armed forces and Allied forces.

The city's official motto, "Water Wealth Contentment Health," is emblazoned on the downtown Modesto Arch, which is featured in local photographs and postcards. The motto was selected in a contest held in 1911, where the winner won $3 as his prize. (The original winner, "Nobody's got Modesto's goat", was later declined by town officials.) Modesto's motto is sometimes spoofed as "The land gets the water, the bankers get the wealth, the cows get contentment, and the farmers get the health."

Modesto is known for the following tourist attractions and historical sites:

• McHenry Mansion – Built in the early 1880s by Robert McHenry, a local rancher and banker. The mansion is included on the National Register of Historic Places. Tours are given.
• McHenry Museum – Across the street from the McHenry Mansion. It is filled with tidbits from Modesto's history.
• George Lucas Plaza – American Graffiti-inspired bronze statue made in honor of Modesto filmmaker George Lucas, located at Five Points (the intersection of McHenry Avenue, "J" Street, 17th Street, Downey and Needham).
• Gallo Center for the Arts – Center for the performing arts opened in 2007 and located in downtown Modesto at 1000 "I" Street.
• Downtown Modesto – Known for having a variety of restaurants and night life, including 3 weekly farmer's markets. It also hosts a multi-venue Art Walk year-round on the third Thursday of the month, free to view with maps available.
• The State Theatre – Dating back to the 1920s, it was recently renovated and serves as a local performance arts center and as a theater specializing in independent and foreign films.
• John Thurman Field – Renovated stadium, home of the Modesto Nuts baseball team (single "A" affiliate of the Seattle Mariners team).[33]
• Graceada Park neighborhood – An area of representative old homes (circa 1920s and earlier) with streets lined with large city-planted shade trees and a series of parks, a bandshell and other amenities. The name Graceada is based on two local residents, Grace Beard and Ada Wisecarver, who helped promote the idea of parks in the area and whose families donated the land for Graceada Park. This park was designed by John McLaren, who also designed and was the longtime superintendent of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.

The Rockabilly genre of music originated in Modesto with the formation of Maddox Brothers & Rose on KTRB Radio in 1937. The "Hillbilly Boogie" sound, featuring the string slapping percussive sound by Fred Maddox, would become popular on a national scale and would later be the foundation for Rockabilly.