The San Joaquin Historian – Fall 2025

Transportation has been an important part of San Joaquin County’s development and growth. Many of the earliest settlers arrived in the county by boat or wagon. Most of the goods manufactured and the produce grown in San Joaquin County and the Central Valley move along our waterways, railroads, and highways.

The first steamboat to travel up the San Joaquin River to Stockton was Captain Sutter in November 1849. It arrived from San Francisco carrying passengers, freight, and mail. Three years later, there were six steamboats making daily trips between Stockton and San Francisco. Produce brokers navigated the waterways  by boat to negotiate crop prices with farmers along the Delta. Freshly harvested agricultural goods were transported by barge to local packing sheds and warehouses or to San Francisco for trade. Local leaders had discussed building a port and shipping channel in San Joaquin County as early as 1869. Congress approved funds in 1927 and construction began in 1930. In 1933 the Port of Stockton opened. Today, it is the primary exporter of the Central Valley’s agricultural and industrial products.