Patterson history Hernandez T.W. Patterson Grayson Westley Crows Landing Vernalis Del Puerto Land Grant

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RANCHO DEL PUERTO AND THE PATTERSON COLONY

The history of the community of Patterson began with the measuring out of the Rancho Del Puerto and the subsequent grant of the land to the brothers Mariano and Pedro Hernandez on January 20, 1844 , by Manuel Micheltoreno, Governor of the Californias . This original Mexican Land Grant was for acreage stretching east of the present Highway 33 to the San Joaquin River . The northern boundary was Del Puerto Creek and the southern boundary was just south of 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 . They sold the grant to J.O. Eldredge on June 18, 1866 , for $5,000. He held the title two months before selling it to John D. Patterson on August 14, 1866 for $5,400.

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

According to photographs, the town was laid out and construction including the Center Building and Del Puerto Hotel, were already under by April 1910.

Once the Patterson Colony map was filed with the Stanislaus County Recorder's office on December 13, 1910 , sales of ranches and city lots began. Thomas W. Patterson subdivided the land into ranches of various sizes, mostly 5, 10 to 20 acres. For irrigation he had a plan developed which became known around the world as the first successful lift irrigation system. It pumped water from the San Joaquin River into a series of canals which delivered water to the farm land.

Determined to make Patterson different from the towns along the West Side that were also next to the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks, he modeled his town after Washington D.C. and Paris , France , by using a series of circles with radiating streets. T.W. Patterson, although practical, had a eye for beauty. Parks were laid out along the railroad. Major avenues and streets were planted with palms, eucalyptus, and sycamore trees. Some seven miles along Sycamore Avenue were lined with trees of the same name and interspersed with oleander bushes featuring a diversity of colors of which there is little left of the original plantings.

Las Palmas Avenue was once lined with eucalyptus trees planted between the palms. Only the palms remain, which are now one of two state historical resources in the Patterson area. The other landmark is the Center Building, so called by Pattersonites. Effort has been going on for years to get the palms on Las Palmas and the Center Building registered as historical landmarks.

The Center Building , located in the circle of town was originally the Patterson Ranch Company Office. It was one of the first buildings in the town. This building, along with the Del Puerto Hotel that in recent years was destroyed by fire, was finished in 1910. Both buildings were built by the Patterson Ranch Company to take care of the business of establishing a new town. The Center Building was used as the office for the sale of land.

After most of the land was sold for houses, businesses, and farming, the office remained the operations headquarters for the Patterson family's farming and land interests. The Patterson City Water Company owned by the Patterson family also operated from the building. During the early years, the building housed the U.S. Post office. Later the post office was moved to Del Puerto Avenue and then to its present location on Salado Avenue .

In 1978, exclusive use of the Center Building was granted to the Historical Society for a museum. Currently the Patterson-Westley Chamber of Commerce has office space in the building. You may phone the Patterson-Westley Chamber of Commerce (209) 892-2821 if you are interested in joining the Patterson Township Historical Society whose purpose is to preserve the history of the Patterson area, including Crows Landing, Westley, Grayson and Vernalis and to make the information about its past available through the museum and its publication "The Gateway."