PLACES WITH A TURLOCK STORY
A university that started at the fairgrounds. A bracelet invented by a local family. A cinema that became a gym. These places explain something about Turlock while giving you a reason to explore it.
Updated 2026.
Campus, agriculture and an invention that traveled
- Stanislaus State — how the college began, how it changed the north side of town, and how to find a public performance, exhibition or campus visit.
- Hilmar Cheese Company — the nearby visitor center, the dairy story behind it and what a visit actually includes. Hilmar is in Merced County.
- MedicAlert and the Collins family — the local invention that connected a medical ID to a much fuller emergency record. This existing profile follows both the family and the organization’s development.
The fairgrounds and the Tuesday market
- Stanislaus County Fair — Melon Carnival origins, a complicated wartime history, the college’s first home and dated examples of concerts and fair attractions.
- Turlock’s Tuesday flea market — shopping at Turlock Sales Yard on East Avenue, with the operator’s directions, buyer information and vendor links.
The weekly Tuesday market and the fairgrounds’ separate swap meet are different events at different locations. Their individual pages make that distinction clear.
From movie houses to familiar street corners
- Regal Turlock on West Main — current showtimes and practical moviegoing information, plus the building’s earlier life.
- Valley Cinemas on Geer Road — the theater remembered through its later In-Shape use and the fitness business at the address today.
- Turlock and Modesto on screen — recognizable town names in films and television, and which connections involved actual filming.
- Radio and TV nearby — local and regional broadcasters, station links and ways to follow area news.
Continue through Turlock’s areas and streets for the places between these landmarks, or read Turlock Through the Decades to see how the town changed around them.
