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History

Turlock’s history, historic places, institutions and the people who shaped the region.

Amazon in Turlock: Inside MCE1’s Big-Item Business, History and Jobs

A red tractor pulling a blue Amazon Prime freight trailer on Highway 403 in Oakville, Ontario.
An Amazon Prime freight trailer on Highway 403 in Oakville, Ontario, in June 2026. Photo: VynedJ / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0; cropped and resized.

The enormous Amazon building west of Highway 99 has a particular job: handling the awkward, heavy things that do not fit neatly into a small-package warehouse. Exercise equipment, patio furniture, appliances and large bags of pet food were among the products described when Turlock’s fulfillment center opened in 2022. Its name inside Amazon is MCE1. The facility is at 3200 Fulkerth Road, Turlock. The county’s economic-development strategy records a 1,080,308-square-foot building—usually rounded to 1.1 million… Keep Reading

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Blue Diamond in Turlock: The Farmers and Factory Behind the Almonds

Blue Diamond Almonds Nut and Gift Shop exterior in Salida, California.
Blue Diamond’s Nut and Gift Shop in Salida, photographed in March 2022. Photo: Sarah Stierch / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0; cropped and resized.

Almonds do more than grow around Turlock. At Blue Diamond’s Washington Road plant, they become flour, sliced and roasted ingredients, and the base for Almond Breeze almondmilk. The name on the supermarket shelf belongs to a cooperative owned by growers—a business that started in 1910, more than a century before its factory opened here. The shop pictured above is Blue Diamond’s Salida location. Turlock’s plant is a manufacturing workplace at 1300 N. Washington Road, Turlock.… Keep Reading

Gallo: The Modesto Family Behind a Global Wine Business

Bell tower and red tile roof at Bridlewood Estate Winery in Santa Ynez, California.
Bridlewood Estate Winery in Santa Ynez, photographed in 2018. Photo: Sarah Stierch / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0; cropped and resized.

A bottle of Barefoot, a can of High Noon and the name above Modesto’s performing-arts center have a family connection. The business behind those drinks began in a rented Modesto building in 1933. It grew into wineries, vineyards, glass furnaces and a worldwide distribution network—with Livingston operations and a long employment connection to Turlock’s university. The company now calls itself GALLO. Many Valley residents still know it as E. & J. Gallo Winery, the name… Keep Reading

Foster Farms: From a $1,000 Loan to a Valley Institution

Guests photograph Apple, a turkey raised at Foster Farms Wellsford Ranch near Modesto, in the White House Rose Garden on November 24, 2010
Apple, raised at Foster Farms’ Wellsford Ranch near Modesto, meets the cameras at the White House on November 24, 2010. Official White House photo: Chuck Kennedy, public domain; resized.

Foster Farms began with a $1,000 loan and a husband and wife raising poultry outside Modesto. For Turlock, the story became much bigger than a label in the grocery store: turkey plants, hatcheries, feed deliveries and paychecks. The name is still familiar, but the business has changed. The Foster family sold the poultry company in 2022, and its fresh-turkey operation in Turlock closed in 2025. Founded: 1939 by Max and Verda Foster, near Modesto. Headquarters:… Keep Reading

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Josh Harder: From Turlock to Congress

Josh Harder in his official U.S. House portrait from 2019
Josh Harder’s official House portrait for the 116th Congress, 2019. Franmarie Metzler / U.S. House of Representatives; public domain. Cropped, resized and placed on a plain background.

Josh Harder once interned for Jeff Denham. In 2018, he defeated his former boss for Congress. The Turlock native arrived in Washington at 32, after a career in venture capital and a stint teaching business at Modesto Junior College. His congressional work has since ranged from health care and flood protection to a taxidermy swamp rat brought onto the House floor. His Turlock connection: Harder represented the city in the former 10th Congressional District from… Keep Reading

Jeff Denham: The Congressman Who Called Turlock Home

Jeff Denham’s official congressional portrait beside the title of his Turlock profile.
Jeff Denham’s official portrait for the 115th Congress. Photo: United States Congress, public domain. Cropped and arranged for Local Turlock.

Days before the 2018 election, Jeff Denham was at his Turlock home getting ready to knock on doors with his wife, Sonia, and campaign volunteers. Their dog Lily came along. A congressional race drawing national attention was also unfolding on familiar neighborhood streets. The Journal’s November 2018 campaign report captured that morning. Yes, Denham lived in Turlock during his congressional career. The 2014 Congressional Directory identified him as a Republican “of Turlock.” His connection to… Keep Reading

Turlock Library: From the Carnegie Building to Minaret Avenue

The historic Carnegie building in Turlock, with arched windows and steps leading to the entrance.
The historic Carnegie building in Turlock, September 2012. Photo: Saeid Banankhah (Saeidb) / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0.

You can borrow books, make a stop-motion film or start a passport application at the Turlock Library on Minaret Avenue. Its history began with women organizing a free library, followed by a downtown Carnegie building and efforts to make room for more readers. Find the library on Minaret Avenue Turlock Library: 550 Minaret Avenue, Turlock, CA 95380. Call 209-664-8100. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday: 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Wednesday: noon–8 p.m. Friday and Saturday: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.… Keep Reading

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The Soderquists of Turlock: Hatcheries, Downtown Shops and a Custom Mercury

A. Soderquist’s 1921 biography describes Rose Hill Hatchery’s incubators, chick production and family in Turlock.
A. Soderquist’s hatchery and family in George H. Tinkham’s History of Stanislaus County (1921), p. 1362. Internet Archive scan; public domain.

The Soderquist family’s businesses included beekeeping, a hatchery, downtown dress shops and antiques. Their Turlock history began with a Swedish immigrant buying farmland west of town. A later family connection was a 1954 Mercury restored by custom-car builder Gene Winfield. A farm family arrives in 1902 George H. Tinkham’s 1921 history of Stanislaus County gives us an unusually detailed account of a man he identifies as A. Soderquist. Born in Sweden in 1863, Soderquist reached… Keep Reading

F. A. Pierson: Turlock Mayor in 1926

F. A. Pierson appears in Turlock’s mayoral record in 1926. The Political Graveyard’s biographical index identifies him as a farmer and mayor. It is a brief entry, leaving much of his personal story to be recovered. What the record establishes The index gives his initials, occupation and a year of service. It does not give a full name, birth date or complete term. Its Turlock mayor list explicitly describes itself as incomplete. Accordingly, 1926 is… Keep Reading

John Lazar: Turlock’s Mayor, Washington Roots and Local Legacy

John Lazar worked as a congressional page in 1976 and later for legislators in Washington and Sacramento. He spent 22 years on Turlock’s council and in the mayor’s chair, serving as mayor from 2006–2014. His administration worked on budgets, industrial development and drinking water. From a House page to hometown office The Congressional Record’s December 9, 2014 tribute offers an unusually useful outline of Lazar’s early career. Representative Jeff Denham recorded his House page service,… Keep Reading

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