Manteca is a Sugar Town

from Manteca Bulletin

After moving to Manteca, I discovered it has a sugar history.  It was at the Kelly's Brother Restaurant, with all the displays, that I realized this.  I came through Manteca, going to the mountains, while the factory was still here, but never paid attention.   It has now been knocked down, and now a Target is on the property where it use to be.  In the corner is a memorial to the sugar factory, although there is no plaque identifying it as such.  The Spreckels Sugar Factory opened in 1917.  There were a few years it did not operate due to curly top.  The silos were torn down in July 1997, paving the way for Spreckels Park, and property for Home Depot, Target and Food For Less.

My mother's family comes from sugar beat workers, mostly with U&I Sugar.  My great grandfather, and grandfather worked in the sugar in Lehi, the first economically successful sugar factory in Utah.  However it succumbed to curly top.  My grandfather moved from their to Idaho Falls, Lincoln Street where he was the boiler operator for the Idaho Falls Sugar Factory.