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1910s: Water brought prosperity to Manteca
109 YEARS & COUNTING
goodwin dam
Nestled in the rustic Stanislaus River canyon below the western horizon from busy Highway 108-120 in the bottomland of Tuolumne County is arguably the most critical chunk of concrete ever poured when it comes to powering the Manteca economy. Goodwin Dam was completed in 1913.

Water.

It drove back the efforts of a 20-man Mormon contingent led by William Stout in 1846 who established a colony southwest of Manteca near the Hays Road bend in the San Joaquin River.

They were the first to build an irrigation ditch for farm crops, a modest three-quarter of a mile perfectly graded ditch that was still visible in 1910.

The devastating floods of the winter of 1846-47, though, swelled the San Joaquin River turning it into a three-mile wide river.

But while too much water forced the area’s first settlers to give up and head back to San Francisco, by the time 1910 rolled around Manteca’s handful of residents were anxious to solve the problem of not enough water.

It was during the 1910s that several private efforts to build irrigation canals to bring water to the Manteca-Ripon-Escalon triangle from the Stanislaus River near Knights Ferry enjoyed limited success.

It wasn’t until the first bonds were issued on June 10, 1910 to build the South San Joaquin Irrigation District system that great success was obtained.

It was so successful that by the time the first water flowed on April 6, 1913 into SSJID canals from the just completed Goodwin Dam on the Stanislaus River, the South County’s population swelled from 3,000 to over 15,000 residents anticipating the prosperity irrigated water would bring.

In that sense, the story of Manteca mirrors that of California. Harnessed water from Hetch Hetchy allowed San Francisco to prosper. The Owens Valley aqueduct fueled Los Angeles growth. Up and down the Great Central Valley farmers and struggling town sites were creating irrigation districts.

Total acreage under cultivation in 1909 was 15,359 acres. Midway through the 1910s with irrigation in full swing, productive land increased to 51,095 acres.

The Manteca town site created by Joshua Cowell was booming.

Speculators from throughout the state were trying to cash in on the anticipated South County agricultural boom. The Manteca Enterprise in 1912 reported merchants were flocking to the town to provide clothing, plumbing, tailoring, druggist, steam cleaning, optical, and legal services. There was even a “moving picture show” preparing to open in Manteca.

Claus Spreckels saw the potential for sugar beets in the Manteca district. His company arranged for the shipment of 28,000 pounds of sugar beet seeds from Germany at a cost of nearly $15,000 that arrived in Manteca on Dec. 31, 1915.

By the end of January 1916, more than 50 farmers had planted 7,000 acres of sugar beets.

Spreckels originally wanted to build its refinery at Mossdale Crossing or in Stockton where boats could easily ship the refined product back to San Francisco. The Manteca Board of Trade lobbied extensively and even offered to provide 449 acres for the sugar plant.

The impact of Spreckels’ decision cannot be overstated as to the impact it had on Manteca. The Manteca district had 371 residents in 1915. After Spreckels announced its decision to build in Manteca, the community’s population jumped to 567.

By the time the plant opened in 1918 after delays caused by World War I, more than 300 new families had settled in the Manteca area.

The town was growing and prospering as South County trade center thanks to the dual impact of irrigated fields and Spreckels Sugar. The actual town site had 200 residents in 1918. Talk of incorporation started.

By June 8, 1918 after a successful election, Manteca was incorporated as a city. The first year was spent getting sewer bonds passed, repairing and extending streets, shoring up the volunteer fire department, property owners were fined for not clearing their lots of weeds, a marshal and deputy marshal were hired and ordinances governing citizens’ behavior were adopted.

In just one decade, Manteca was transformed from a wide spot on the rail line into a new city bracing looking forward to a prosperous future while struggling to deal with growth issues.

It would not have happened if men didn’t have the vision of harnessing the Stanislaus River to bring irrigation water to the Manteca district.