French Camp, The Oldest Community in San Joaquin County

French Camp, California

French Camp is where the Oregon-California trail ended. The trail was used by French-Canadian trappers working for the Hudson Bay Company from around 1832 through 1845. Michel la Framboise, along with others, met fur seekers here annually, as they camped along the river with their families.

During 1844 William Gulnac and Charles M. Weber endorsed the first white settler colony, "Rancho del Campo de Los Franceses," where French Camp was included along with the present site of Stockton. GSA's Western Distribution Center and the U.S. Army Sharpe Depot are both located in Fench Camp along with the San Joaquin County General Hospital. Interstate I-5 runs right through the middle of the town.

French Camp Real Estate Listings

Time stops in French Camp

French Camp native Pat Beattie and her sister were still running the market in 2004 their father opened in the early part of the 20th century at the corner of French Camp Road and Ash Street. In 2004, Beattie's Grocery was sparsely stocked and appeared to be more of a stop- in-and-chat spot than a business. On an outside wall, a faded advertisement still promotes the refreshment of Eskimo pies ("M-m-m-melts in your mouth". The place has bare, unfinished wood floors and a dusty feel. The unpainted wood display cases are mostly empty except for a few bags of chips and candy. There were some sodas and a few packs of cigarettes, along with some stray cobwebs hanging from the tin ceiling. Still, a few regulars dropped by, like Chris Teagarden of Stockton. He had been driving by the store for a decade and stopped in occasionally for a snack or soda. "It's was funky, man," he said laughing as he ate potato chips outside the store on a recent afternoon before the store closed. "It's was a nice store, but they didn't sell much. It was always that way." Though well-known as a community activist and staunch protector of the town's historical character, Beattie remained reclusive when it came to outsiders, as was her sister. The pair declined interviews.

Residents in French Camp guard their small-town independence and identity. Unlike the ever-changing landscape in Stockton four miles to the north, not much has changed over the years in French Camp. There are large stretches of fields, no sidewalks and few traffic lights. Residents rely on wells and septic tanks. An occasional red rooster crosses the road. Despite increasing traffic along French Camp Road during commute hours, the town still remains quiet and peaceful, for the most part. Many residents say they want it to stay that way. French Camp's rural feel is what keeps native Thomas Colwell here. The 63-year-old man still lives in the house he was raised in just a mile from the post office, where he has worked for 26 years. He went to French Camp School a quarter mile north from the post office. "I have five acres, so I don't look out my window and bump heads with my neighbor," Colwell said recently from his post behind the counter. "We have chickens running loose and they actually use the crosswalk."

County Supervisor Steve Gutierrez, whose district includes French Camp, said many of the residents fear their community will be overrun by growth from Stockton. "They don't want to be part of the city of Stockton," he said. "The majority like to maintain their rural style of existence, and I respect them for it." The community's downtown consists of a few blocks along French Camp Road occupied by the market, the French Camp Fire District fire station, French Camp School and the post office, which celebrates its 150th anniversary May 3.

The post-office flagpole will be painted for the occasion, and Postmaster Rod Rodinsky hopes for appearances by local officials and the French Camp school band at the sesquicentennial ceremony. The post office "is the focal point for the community," said Rodinsky, who also has headed the French Camp Chamber of Commerce for nine years. "This is where people run into each other." If most of the town's permanent residents live east of Interstate 5, most of the jobs are on the west side, the site of the county jail and hospital, the Sheriff's Office, juvenile hall and a migrant-worker camp. The county hospital relocated to French Camp from Stockton in 1895 after a fire.

French Camp gets its name from the French-Canadian fur traders who were the first white settlers in the area, arriving in 1828 after the discovery of a native beaver population. Known among California's Mexicans as El Campo de los Franceses, the area became French Camp after the Mexican government granted the land in 1844 to Guillermo Gulnac, who was a Mexican citizen by marriage. Gulnac and Charles M. Weber founded French Camp. Five years later, Weber founded the city of Stockton. Historical accounts report that by 1850, French Camp contained a store, saloon, freight depot and two hotels.

Stockton businessmen used French Camp Slough to boat into Stockton during the rainy season when roads turned to mud. French Camp overshadowed Stockton as a transportation center until 1865, when the French Camp Turnpike, an all-weather toll road linking French Camp to Stockton, was finished. In 1879, French Camp's population hit 200. But the town's ascent stalled after Interstate 5 was completed and the old Lincoln Highway through town had been bypassed. With the decrease in traffic, several gas stations and roadside businesses closed along French Camp Road.

The state recognized French Camp as a historical spot in 1959. As of the 2000 Census, the community's population was about 4,000, including 1,312 inmates housed at the county jail.

French Camp residents such as Marie Stagno have watched, with a sense of growing unease, as massive housing developments continue to sprout up on all sides. Stagno owns the Stockton Livestock Auction that was built by her grandfather, Casey Stagno, in 1946. The Stagnos named it the Stockton Livestock Auction, because there was already another auction site called French Camp. Marie Stagno runs the place, where livestock is sold on Saturdays, with her two brothers. They also breed goats for meat. "This is a nice, small town. We want to keep it small," Stagno said. But, she added, "You can't stop progress." Progress is what French Camp needs, said longtime resident Bob Pico, 69, who sits on the fire district's board of directors. Pico unsuccessfully tried to push the townspeople to incorporate about 30 years ago. He also tried to convince residents to approve a deal to get their water from Stockton about 15 years ago. Residents rejected the offer, because they didn't want to be connected to Stockton or pay for water.

French Camp's isolationist position eventually will be its demise, he said. "It is going backwards instead of forward. It needs to come into the modern age," Pico said. "The core (downtown will sit there and die on the vine, and French Camp will be just a memory some day."

To reach reporter Kate Fowlie, phone (209 546-8296 or e-mail [email protected]

Community

Location in San Joaquin County and the state of California

Area code(s) 209

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