DOWNTOWN TURLOCK BARS
Staley’s has an unusually long paper trail for a Main Street bar. A 1960 city directory puts it at the same address used today. Decades later, one of its co-owners is a Turlock firefighter who once knew the place from the other side of the counter.
Updated 2026.
Where to find Staley’s
Staley’s Club is at 426 E. Main Street in downtown Turlock. It is a bar; plan dinner separately if you are building an evening around it. Call 209-634-6328, or use Staley’s Facebook page for current business updates and hours.
Its downtown location makes it easy to pair with a Main Street meal. Our Main Street guide covers the surrounding corridor, while the shopping and dining guide helps distinguish downtown stops from the centers farther out in town.
The same address in 1960
The 1960 Polk’s Modesto City Directory, which also covered Turlock and neighboring communities, identifies Jas H. Staley with Staley’s Club. The business entry calls it a tavern and gives its location as 426 E. Main. It is a compact record, but it puts both a person and a place behind the familiar name.
The entry is on printed page 563, the twelfth page of the linked scan—evidence that Staley’s was operating here by 1960.
Another trace survives in Roadside Peek’s Central California tavern photographs. Dave and Debra van Hulsteyn photographed Staley’s sign, preserving the business as part of a collection of roadside and neighborhood landmarks.
A firefighter’s view from behind the bar
In a December 16, 2025 episode of Caffeine, Lifts, and Public Assists, guest Mike Rebensdorf is introduced as Staley’s co-owner and a firefighter whose career included Turlock Rural, Escalon and Turlock City. The episode connects the bar to a wider circle of Central Valley first responders.
The discussion turns to owning a place he used to visit, including the practical demands of the business: insurance, margins and calls that arrive late at night. For the Staley’s portion, start with the chapter at 3:20; another bar chapter begins at 6:52, before the conversation moves into firefighting stories.
For more of the town behind the storefronts, explore Turlock’s history. If you have an older Staley’s photograph or a dated story about the business, send us the background so this account can grow beyond the directory entry.
