Lathrop

Long before it had a name, the land that became Lathrop was home to the Yokut people. Later it drew trappers, hunters and fishermen who worked the surrounding waters. In 1869, Leland Stanford founded the town as a railroad stop, partly as a response to the setbacks he had faced with his rail plans in Stockton.

The town's past runs through several threads: the railroad, the winding waterways of the Delta, and the factories and warehouses that handled manufacturing and distribution. The account also recounts the story of David S. Terry, a California Supreme Court justice, and his killing. Years earlier, Terry had won the last legal duel held in California, fought with U.S. senator David C. Broderick just outside San Francisco.

The town is said to take its name from a relative of Leland Stanford Jr. Its origins were rough, built around the railroad, but the community has grown into a lively place of close to 20,000 residents.