Banta is a small
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
in
San Joaquin County
San Joaquin County ( ; , meaning " St. Joachim"), officially the County of San Joaquin, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 779,233. The county seat is Stockton.
San Jo ...
,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. Originally known as the village of San Joaquin Valley in the 1840s, the town was served by the McCloud Stage Company as the last stop for passengers before heading over the
Altamont Pass
Altamont Pass, formerly Livermore Pass, is a low mountain pass in the Diablo Range of Northern California between Livermore in the Livermore Valley and Tracy in the San Joaquin Valley. The name is actually applied to two distinct but nea ...
on the road between
Stockton and the Bay Area.
The stage stop spawned the Elk Horn Inn, which served thirsty travelers and local farmers. Expanded by owner Ransom Chamberlain in 1853 to include a two-story hotel, restaurant and bar, the inn was renamed “The White House.” In 1863, Henry Banta bought the inn from Chamberlain and changed the sign on the awning to read “Banta’s White House.” Soon, local residents, travelers and teamsters began calling the settlement “Bantas,” and the town began appearing on maps and stagecoach schedules under that name.
In 1869, Bantas became a whistle stop for freight and passengers on the newly completed
Western Pacific Railroad
The Western Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly the Southern Pacific Railroad had on rail service into northern California. WP's Feather River Route dire ...
, which later became part of the
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...
.
Banta was located on the route of the transcontinental railroad from
Sacramento
Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...
to the
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...
by way of the
Altamont Pass
Altamont Pass, formerly Livermore Pass, is a low mountain pass in the Diablo Range of Northern California between Livermore in the Livermore Valley and Tracy in the San Joaquin Valley. The name is actually applied to two distinct but nea ...
and
Niles Canyon before the Central Pacific bought the route of the
California Pacific which ran north of the
Carquinez Strait
The Carquinez Strait (; Spanish: ''Estrecho de Carquinez'') is a narrow tidal strait located in the Bay Area of Northern California, United States. It is part of the tidal estuary of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers as they drain int ...
to
Vallejo. In the late 1870s, the Central Pacific diverted the California Pacific line to
Benicia, California
Benicia ( , ) is a city in Solano County, California, located on the north bank of the Carquinez Strait in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It served as the List of capitals in the United S ...
and established a
railroad ferry between Benicia and
Port Costa across the Carquinez Strait.
Meanwhile, the railroad chose to extend a branch line – the San Pablo and Tulare Extension Railroad – from Benicia and Port Costa to
Tracy Junction instead of Banta in 1878, a decision which led to the creation of the current city of Tracy and relegated Banta to secondary status as a village at the far eastern edge of the railroad's yards. The San Pablo and Tulare extension was later incorporated into the Southern Pacific.
Banta's original Southern Pacific Railroad depot was torn down and moved to Benicia in 1902. It remains standing in Benicia, where it currently serves as a visitor center.
Steve Perry
Stephen Ray Perry (born January 22, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and frontman of the rock band Journey during their most successful years from 1977 to 1987, and again from 1995 to 1998. He wrote/co-wrote ...
, former lead singer of the band
Journey, once called Banta his home. His Alien Project rock group formed here in the mid-1970s.
Banta's ZIP Code is 95304, and the community is inside
area code 209
Area codes 209 and 350 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the U.S. state of California. Their service area includes Stockton, Modesto, Turlock, Merced, Winton, Atwater, Livingston, Manteca, Ripon, Tracy ...
.
Landmarks
Banta's historical sites include the Banta Inn, established in 1879. The Inn is well known in the area because some local residents believe it to be haunted.
For a brief period, Banta was a stop along the
Lincoln Highway
The Lincoln Highway is one of the first transcontinental highways in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated Octob ...
, the original cross-country thoroughfare linking the eastern and western United States. The highway was rerouted past Banta to nearby
Tracy in 1915 via Eleventh Street, which was also known as U.S. Highway 50 for many years.
The historic J. Brichetto Building at 5362 West G Street, on the corner of South 7th Street across from the Banta Inn, was constructed by local landowner Giuseppe Brichetto in 1911 and served as a general store and the town's post office for many years.
Notable residents
*
Steve Perry
Stephen Ray Perry (born January 22, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and frontman of the rock band Journey during their most successful years from 1977 to 1987, and again from 1995 to 1998. He wrote/co-wrote ...
, former lead singer of the rock band
Journey.
*
Richard Pombo
Richard William Pombo, Order of Prince Henry, GOIH (born January 8, 1961) is an American lobbyist for mining and water-management companies and former Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the United States House of Representativ ...
, former Congressman.
Government
In the
California State Legislature
The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members). ...
, Banta is in , and in .
In the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
, Banta is in .
References
{{authority control
Unincorporated communities in California
Unincorporated communities in San Joaquin County, California