Modesto, city in central California and seat of Stanislaus County. The city is located on the Tuolumne River, in the fertile valley of the San Joaquin River. Agriculture and food processing industries are important to the economy; products include wine, peaches, nuts, dairy products, poultry, and canned and frozen foods. Glass and paper products are also manufactured. A junior college and McHenry Museum, which houses Native American memorabilia and replicas of late 18th-century rooms, are located in the city. The Stanislaus campus (1957) of California State University is in nearby Turlock.
The city was laid out in 1870 by the Central Pacific Railroad. It became a shipping and supply hub as well as an agricultural center when irrigated agriculture began in 1903. The city incorporated in 1884. The city's name, Spanish for “modest,” is a tribute to William C. Ralston, a prominent California financier who declined to have the community named for him.
