Editing Manteca, California (section)

== History ==
Manteca is a city in the [[Central Valley (California)|Central Valley]] of California, located {{convert|76|mi|km|abbr=off|sp=us}} east of San Francisco and 18 miles (29 kilometers) northwest of [[Modesto]]. The Manteca area was first inhabited by [[Yokuts]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.mantecabulletin.com/news/local-news/yokuts-were-first-residents-manteca-area/ | title=Yokuts were first residents of Manteca area }}</ref> Manteca was formally established in 1861 by Joshua Cowell. Cowell claimed around {{convert|1,000|acre|ha|abbr=off|sp=us}} 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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 5, 2019 |title='everybody has their own idea of what Manteca stands for' {{!}} How Manteca, CA got its name |url=https://www.abc10.com/article/news/history/how-the-city-of-manteca-got-its-name-in-california/103-ff2d55d9-3b06-4672-9fb3-ac17be1d6549 |access-date=January 23, 2023 |website=abc10.com |language=en-US}}</ref> The residents wanted to refer to their new train station as "Cowell Station", but there was already a Cowell Station near [[Tracy, California|Tracy]]. The residents agreed to change the name of the community, choosing "Monteca" as the new name.<ref name=":0">Manteca Chamber of Commerce: http://manteca.org/about-manteca/</ref> This was misprinted as "Manteca" ([[Spanish language|Spanish]] for [[lard]]) by the railroad,<ref name=":0" /> and the misspelled version was eventually accepted as the name of the town.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mantecamuseum.org/history.html|title=Manteca, California Historical Society <!-- Bot generated title -->|access-date=March 29, 2018|archive-url=https://archive.today/20040806125342/http://www.mantecamuseum.org/history.html|archive-date=August 6, 2004|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1918, Manteca was incorporated as a city, and Joshua Cowell became its first mayor.

In 1935, photojournalist [[Dorothea Lange]] took photos of William & Mary Dimotakis (immigrants from the Greek island of Crete), and their youngest child, son George, on the family farm in Manteca for the Farm Security Administration. The farm, near the industrial park area, is still owned by the Dimotakis family. The images can be found in the [https://www.loc.gov/search/?in=&q=Dimotakis&new=true&st= Library of Congress].

Manteca fashions itself 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 in California|Interstate&nbsp;5]] and [[California State Route&nbsp;99|State Route 99]]. The continuing rise in [[San Francisco Bay Area|Bay Area]] [[house|housing]] prices caused Bay Area families to look further eastward for more affordable places to live. Since the construction of the 120 bypass portion of [[California State Route 120|State Route&nbsp;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 third high school (Sierra High School), joining Manteca High School and East Union High School. The population of Manteca continues to increase, with some housing being constructed on what was once farmland to the north and southeast. Manteca has more than tripled in population since 1980.<ref>https://www.mantecabulletin.com/news/68136-call-manteca-home/; https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917010702/https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF|date=September 17, 2017}} [http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_PL_GCTPL2.ST13&prodType=table] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411124723/http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_PL_GCTPL2.ST13&prodType=table|date=April 11, 2015}}</ref>

Manteca is the home base for the "Not Forgotten Memorial Day Event", the largest commemoration for veterans on the West Coast. The event is held annually on the Sunday before Memorial Day. The event draws over 20,000 attendees.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thememorialweekend.org/index.php/our-mission |title=Our Mission|website=The Traveling Memorial|access-date=January 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420105707/http://www.thememorialweekend.org/index.php/our-mission |archive-date=April 20, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>