A brief history of www.patterson-ca.com
by Claude Delphia, webmaster

In May of 1997 quite a few of us in Patterson were involved in an effort to save the fire damaged Del Puerto Hotel.  At the time I was learning more and more about the Internet and how websites were created and worked.

All websites require a "domain name." patterson-ca.com is a "domain name."  Each name must be registered with an international agency which controls this aspect of Internet operations.

I checked, and at that point the name "Patterson.com" was already taken as well as a number of other combinations.  So in order to register a name for Patterson, I tried "patterson-ca.com" and found that it was available. The "ca" of course denotes California.  I then became the registered "owner" of that domain name.  Actually, it's really a sort of license.  Just like your car license, it must be renewed yearly in order to keep using it.  If you don't renew it in time, someone else can take over the domain name.

In 2003, I signed over the ownership of the site jointly to the Patterson Township Historical Society and the Patterson Apricot Fiesta organizations.  However I continue as the webmaster for those two groups.  The only cost to these two groups is the annual registration fee, which has now been paid in advance for 7 years.  I don't recall the amount, but it was under $100.  The total costs for this site have never exceeded $200. In recent years, the site has been located on a computer in Modesto and there has been no charge for this service.  Normally it can cost $5 to $20 a month for computers space (hosting).

Thus this website began a slow progression in 1997 .  From its humble beginning of just a few pages featuring information about the Hotel, it now contains over 200 pages and hundreds of graphics and other elements that make up a website. There is no way to know how many words have been written for this site. In any case, the page count continues to grow and will increase significantly over the next few months as new historical research data is added.

The Fiesta's web pages content on the website has been pretty consistent over the years since the Fiesta is an annual event.  Each year it is updated to contain the latest Fiesta applications and the addition of a printable events time table.  Also after each Fiesta, photos of the current "court" are added to the photos of past winners.

Interestingly enough, the Fiesta part of the website gets a very large number of visitors even though it has less pages.  That's because it is easily found by people on Google.  The historical side of the site gets visitors who come on a regular basis looking for specific or new information.

The following chart shows the stats for November of 2004:

The following is a list of some of the features that can be found on the site:

• Fiesta news and activities
• Historical Society information with photos and a brief history
• Patterson High School graduates list – This is updated as class members supply new information.
• Recent area obituaries
• Past obituaries from the Patterson Irrigator – this is expanding regularly as the years become available.
• P.R.I.D.E. – A Patterson high school scholarship organization.
• Special
        A tribute to Edna Keechler Stewart

While the setup of this site is a one man operation, there are many people behind the scenes who are supplying the information to put on this website.  Some of the information is specific for this site and some of it is being compiled for long term historical preservation.

The transfer of Patterson Irrigator obituaries into computer format starting from 1911 is an example of an effort involving a lot of people.  The project probably has a year to go before all the years will be available on this site.

Jason Roysdon, who hosts our website, deserves special thanks.  He has been an important friend in making this website possible.

Comments, questions or suggestions are always welcome: contact@patterson-ca.com.