About

Manteca was first settled by a few pioneer farmers in the early 1850's.

Before the first settlers came, there were few Indians living permanently here because of the extreme summer heat and the scarcity of useful vegetation on what was then known as the "sand plains". As the California Gold Rush subsided, permanent settlers came to the area. The principal products were grain and cattle on the first large land holdings. During this period, this valley settlement was called Cowell Station, named after Joshua Cowell who was later known as the "father of Manteca".

Joshua Cowell crossed the plains in 1861 and took up land on what is now the corner of Yosemite and Main (currently the Bank of America). At one time he owned most of Manteca with a claim to 1,000 acres and he rented another 1,000. He had the honor of being the first mayor when the town was incorporated in 1918. When the Central Pacific Railroad came through in 1873, the track was laid through the center of the Cowell Farm. At first the train stopping point was merely a boxcar called Cowell Station. There was another Cowell Station south of Tracy named after Wright Cowell, a brother of Joshua. Because of the confusion of the two station's names, the railroad and the farmers agreed to a name change. The new name chosen was Monteca. The citizens of the town were justly dismayed when the railroad printed the first tickets and found the name misspelled, "Manteca" (Manteca is Spanish for 'lard'). Many of the townspeople were unhappy with the error but it was never corrected.

In 1898 J.J. Overshiner built the first store building which was occupied by a general store and barber shop. Then the residential area of the city consisted of only a few homes but by 1910, the population had reached about 100. Shortly after the opening of the first store, the citizens petitioned for a post office.