History

Pattersonites take great pride in the historical roots of their community. The history of Patterson begins with the measuring of the Rancho Del Puerto and the subsequent grant of the land to Mariano and Pedro Hernandez on January 30, 1844 by Manuel Micheltoreno, then Governor of the Californias. This Mexican Land Grant was for acreage stretching east of the present day Highway 33 to the San Joaquin River. The northern boundary was Del Puerto Creek and the southern boundary was just south of present day Marshall Road.

Samuel G. Reed and Ruben S. Wade made claim to the land on January 7, 1855. A patent encompassing the land grant was signed by President Abraham Lincoln. Reed and Wade received title to 13,340 acres on August 15, 1864. Reed and Wade then sold the grant to J. O. Eldredge on June 18, 1866 for $5,000. Mr. Eldredge held title for only two months before selling it to John D. Patterson on August 14, 1866 for $5,400.

John D. Patterson purchased additional land, and upon his death on March 7, 1902, a total of 18,462 acres were willed to Thomas W. Patterson and William W. Patterson, his estate executors, and other heirs. The land was sold to the Patterson Ranch Company on May 16, 1908 for the sum of $540,000 cash gold coin.

Thomas W. Patterson subdivided the land into ranches of various sizes and plotted the design of the town of Patterson. Determined to make Patterson different from most, he modeled his town after the Cities of Washington D.C. and Paris, France, using a series of circles and radiating streets. Major streets were planted with Palms, Eucalyptus and Sycamore trees.

The Patterson Colony map was filed with the Stanislaus County Recorders office on December 13, 1909. Sales of the ranch properties and city lots commenced. Patterson was the third city in Stanislaus County to incorporate on December 22, 1919.

With a current population of 16,158, Patterson is a rural, small town surrounded by agricultural land. With agriculture as its primary economic base, orchards of apricots, almonds and walnuts, as well as row crops of dry beans, tomatoes, broccoli, spinach, peas and melons play an important role in Patterson's history.