More historic than 19% of U.S. towns · #503 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Manteca was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Below: maps from 1913 on and the census since 1920.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1908.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Manteca’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Manteca is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #503 of 847 in California. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Manteca’s overall grade.
Few California towns list much on the Register (a typical California town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Manteca’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (31% of California towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be C−. The pre-1940 share (±0.7 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1861.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Manteca’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Manteca is a city in the Central Valley of California, located 76 miles (122 kilometers) east of San Francisco and 18 miles (29 kilometers) northwest of Modesto. The Manteca area was first inhabited by Yokuts. Manteca was formally established in 1861 by Joshua Cowell. Cowell claimed around 1,000 acres (400 hectares) and built houses on what is now the corner of Main and Yosemite, where Bank of America now stands. In 1873, the Central Pacific Railroad laid track directly through the area. The residents wanted to refer to their new train station as "Cowell Station", but there was already a Cowell Station near Tracy. The residents agreed to change the name of the community, choosing "Monteca" as the new name. This was misprinted as "Manteca" (Spanish for lard) by the railroad, and the misspelled version was eventually accepted as the name of the town. In 1918, Manteca was incorporated as a…
Passages that mention Manteca, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of San Joaquin County, California1923 · page 1503Read the page →
Read the text
on his father's ranch and at an early age showed natural business ability. While still in his teens he was put in charge of the cream station at Cowcll switch, w-hich is nowthe thriving town of Manteca, where for two years he conducted this branch of the San Joaquin Creamery. The business grew rapidly, as did the surrounding country, and at the present time Manteca is the center of one of the richest dairy
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Manteca, 1861 to 1983
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1861, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Manteca’s post office opened in 1908, and the census of 1920 counted 1,286 people here.
How does Manteca rank for history?
Manteca is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #503 of 847 in California. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Manteca?
2% of Manteca’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1995.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2024