French Camp (from Campo de los Franceses, Spanish for "Field of the Frenchmen") is an unincorporated community in San Joaquin County, California, United States. The population was 3,770 as of the 2020 census. Up from 3,376 at the 2010 census, and down from 4,109 at the 2000 census. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined French Camp as a census-designated place (CDP). The census definition of the area may not precisely correspond to local understanding of the area with the same name.
French Camp is the location of the U.S. Army Sharpe Depot and the GSA Western Distribution Center, and is the oldest settlement in San Joaquin County. San Joaquin General Hospital is located in French Camp. It is also the location of the county jail, the county juvenile hall and the county children's shelter, which combine to form a sizable percentage of the place's population.
Geography
French Camp is located at (37.882742, -121.279788).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , 99.97 percent of it land and 0.03 percent of it water.
Climate
According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, French Camp has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps.
History
French Camp was the southernmost regular camp site of the Hudson's Bay Company southern fur brigades sent from Fort Vancouver (now Vancouver, Washington), established by Michel Laframboise in 1832. Its Spanish name was preserved in a land grant dated January 13, 1844 as Rancho Campo de los Franceses. It is commemorated as California State Historic Landmark 668: Here was the terminus of the Oregon-California trail used by the French-Canadian trappers employed by the Hudson's Bay Company from about 1832 to 1845. Michel Laframboise, among others, met fur hunters here annually, where they camped with their families. In 1844 Charles Maria Weber and William Gulnac promoted the first white settlers' colony on "Rancho del Campo de Los Franceses" which included French Camp and the site of Stockton. French Camp was also known as Castoria, the Latin word for "beaver" being "castor", reflecting its central role in the California Fur Rush.
French Camp was strategically sited at the southern end of the southernmost slough (which became known as French Camp Slough) of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, maximizing the use of the waterway for ease of transportation. A trail led off from the site to the southeast into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It was subsequently used as an alternate route for the Mariposa Road, part of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road, especially favored during the rainy season because of its exceptional drainage. The route was eventually paved and exists to this day as "French Camp Road".
During WWII, Japanese Americans that lived in French Camp were relocated to civilian assembly centers and relocation centers overseen by the War Relocation Authority (WRA) in accordance with Executive Order 9066. Japanese Americans from French Camp were sent to the Turlock Assembly Center at the Stanislaus County Fair, Manzanar War Relocation Center, and the Gila River War Relocation Center. Accounts of the relocation and life in the camps are detailed through letters from former students of the French Camp Grammar School.
Notable people
Scott Brooks, assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers
José M. Hernández, astronaut
Gilbert Luján, painter and sculptor
Phil Spector, record producer, musician, and songwriter (died in San Joaquin General Hospital) Chi Cheng, bassist for Deftones (declared dead at San Joaquin General Hospital) C. Bachmann and Charles H. Brandt founders of the Historical California Chicory Works, now the The River Mill
Demographics
2010
At the 2010 census French Camp had a population of 3,376. The population density was . The racial makeup of French Camp was 1,678 (49.7%) White, 410 (12.1%) African American, 31 (0.9%) Native American, 163 (4.8%) Asian, 11 (0.3%) Pacific Islander, 920 (27.3%) from other races, and 163 (4.8%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1,748 persons (51.8%).
The census reported that 1,622 people (48.0% of the population) lived in households, 336 (10.0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 1,418 (42.0%) were institutionalized.