Stanislaus

Formed April 1, 1854 (37^th county)

Stanislaus County (552,880), Modesto (218,467)

A Modern style building was built into the 1958 courthouse.  Mitchell Van Boorg is the designer of the courthouse.  There is an 1872 courthouse also in Modesto.  Stanislaus County was formed on April 1, 1854 from Tuolumne County as the 37^th county.  The courthouse is at the intersection of 11^th Street and H Street.  California State Highway 99 passes six blocks to the west of the site.  There is also a Hall of Records connected to the courthouse.  Modesto was to be called Ralston after a prominent banker, William Ralston, but when he declined, the citizens named the city for the Spanish for modesty, “Modesto.”  The first county seat was in Adamsville, then Empire City, La Grange, Knights Ferry, and finally Modesto (1871).  The county was named for a prominent Native American Chief Estanislao. 

The area of the county is 1495 square miles.  It is 31 out of 58 in the state.  It ranks 16 out of 58 in population in the state.  It has a density of 369.8 persons per square mile making it 15 out of 58 in the state.  Stanislaus County has 79.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 5 crosses the west part of the county from San Joaquin County on the north into Merced County on the south.  The county is shaped like a plow with the blade facing north.  The Stanislaus River is part of the northern part and the San Joaquin River crosses the western part of the county. 

Stanislaus County government consists of a sheriff, assessor, controller, and treasurer (executive).  It has 5 Supervisors (legislative.)  Twenty-one Superior Court Judges, clerk, and counsel serve Stanislaus County (judicial.)  The county is located in the center of the state south of Stockton, California and northwest of Fresno, California.  The county center is in Modesto 3.2 miles Southeast of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Calaveras, Tuolumne, Merced, Santa Clara, and San Joaquin counties.  Modesto is slightly west of the county’s center.  Modesto is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 39.5% of the county population.  The county is pronounced STAN-IS-LAS.  The county seat is pronounced MOE-DES-TOE.  This county is in the Modesto Metropolitan Statistical Area.