Patterson is a city in Stanislaus County, California, United States, located off Interstate 5. It is 27 miles southeast of Tracy and is part of the Modesto Metropolitan Statistical Area. Patterson is known as the "Apricot Capital of the World"; the town holds an annual Apricot Fiesta to celebrate with many drinks, food, desserts and games. The population was estimated to be 21,212 at the 2014 United States Census.GeographyPatterson is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.0sqmi, all of it land.HistoryThe history of Patterson begins with the Rancho Del Puerto Mexican Land Grant to Mariano and Pedro Hernandez in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena. The grant extended east of the present day Highway 33 to the San Joaquin River. The northern boundary was Del Puerto Creek and the southern boundary was just south of present-day Marshall Road.Samuel G. Reed and Ruben S. Wade made claim to the land on January 7, 1855. A patent encompassing the land grant was signed by President Abraham Lincoln. Reed and Wade received title to 13340acre on August 15, 1864. Reed and Wade then sold the grant to J. O. Eldredge on June 18, 1866 for $5,000. Mr. Eldredge held title for only two months before selling it to John D. Patterson on August 14, 1866 for $5,400. John D. Patterson purchased additional land, and upon his death on March 7, 1902, a total of 18462acre were willed to Thomas W. Patterson and William W. Patterson, his estate executors, and other heirs. The land was sold to the Patterson Ranch Company on May 16, 1908 for the sum of $540,000 cash gold coin. Thomas W. Patterson subdivided the land into ranches of various sizes and plotted the design of the town of Patterson. Determined to make Patterson different from most, he modeled his town after the cities of Washington D.C. and Paris, France, using a series of circles and radiating streets. Major streets were planted with palm, eucalyptus and sycamore trees.
