Ceres, California facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ceres, California
City
City of Ceres
Ceres City Hall
Seal
Motto(s):  "Together We Achieve"
Location of Ceres in Stanislaus County, California.
Ceres, California Location in California Show map of California Ceres, California Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States of America
State	California
County	Stanislaus
Incorporated	February 25, 1918
Named for	Ceres
Area
• Total	9.35 sq mi (24.22 km2)
• Land	9.35 sq mi (24.21 km2)
• Water	0.01 sq mi (0.01 km2)  0.10%
Elevation	92 ft (28 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	49,302
• Density	5,211.43/sq mi (2,012.15/km2)
Time zone	UTC-8 (Pacific)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP code	95307
Area code(s)	209
FIPS code	06-12524
GNIS feature IDs	1655882, 2409430

Ceres is a city in Stanislaus County, California. Its population was 49,302 at the 2020 U.S. Census, up from 45,417 at the 2010 U.S. Census. It is part of the Modesto metropolitan statistical area.

Ceres is located in the San Joaquin Valley along State Route 99, south of Modesto and north of Turlock in Stanislaus County. Ceres is named after the Roman goddess of agriculture.

The newspaper in Ceres is called the Ceres Courier, which has been in publication since 1910. The offices of the Ceres Courier were relocated from an address in downtown Ceres in 2012. It has since combined day-to-day operations with its sister paper, the Turlock Journal, in Turlock. Jeff Benziger, was appointed editor in 1987. The city also has a Spanish-language paper.

Ceres hosts annual events at different times of the year. Spring brings the Ceres Street Faire on the first weekend in May. Concert in the Park is a regular summer event. Halloween Fun Festival marks the fall, followed by the colorful, and much-attended, Christmas Tree Lane opening ceremony.

History

The first non-native families that inhabited Ceres were those of John Service, Cassius Warner, and Daniel Whitmore in the year 1867. Daniel C. Whitmore is considered the first family and founder of Ceres. He built his home in 1870, the Whitmore Mansion at 2928 5th Street. That home still stands, fully restored by the city and the Ceres Historical Society.

In the early 1890s, the outlaws Chris Evans and John Sontag robbed a Southern Pacific Railroad train at Ceres and several other area locations.

In the late 1930s, a labor camp was developed within the city of Ceres.

The history of Ceres is recounted in Arcadia Publishing Company's Images of America series entitled, "Ceres, by Jeff Benziger. It was released on August 23, 2010.

2000s

2005: Police shooting

Ceres lost its first police officer while on duty when Sergeant Howard Stevenson was killed on January 9, 2005.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Ceres has a total area of 8.0 sq mi(20.8 km²), 99.9% of it land and 0.1% of it water. The formation of alluvial fans in the San Joaquin Valley has led to a rather flat regional geography. There are no known active earthquake fault traces in the project vicinity. (Earth Metrics, 1989) Hydrological feature mapping of the Ceres area has been conducted by the U. S. Geological Survey. (USGS, 2003)

Demographics

2010

The 2010 U.S. Census reported that Ceres had a population of 45,417. The population density was 5,663.2 people per square mile (2,186.6/km²). The ethnic makeup of Ceres was 26,217 (57.7%) White, 1,185 (2.6%) African American, 609 (1.3%) Native American, 3,093 (6.8%) Asian, 346 (0.8%) Pacific Islander, 11,463 (25.2%) from other races, and 2,504 (5.5%) from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 25,436 persons (56.0%).

The census reported that 45,064 people (99.2% of the population) lived in households, 293 (0.6%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 60 (0.1%) were institutionalized.

Of the 12,692 households, 6,876 (54.2%) had children under 18 living in them, 7,311 (57.6%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 2,211 (17.4%) had a female householder with no husband present, and 1,053 (8.3%) had a male householder with no wife present. The city had 976 (7.7%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 76 (0.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships; 1,586 households (12.5%) were one person and 628 (4.9%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 3.55. There were 10,575 families (83.3% of households); the average family size was 3.84.

The age distribution was 14,623 people (32.2%) under 18, 5,108 people (11.2%) aged 18 to 24, 12,506 people (27.5%) aged 25 to 44, 9,667 people (21.3%) aged 45 to 64, and 3,513 people (7.7%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 29.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.9 males.

The 13,673 housing units averaged of 1,704.9/sq mi, and of the occupied units, 8,010 (63.1%) were owner-occupied and 4,682 (36.9%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.5%; the rental vacancy rate was 8.2%; 27,776 people (61.2% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 17,288 people (38.1%) lived in rental housing units.

Parks and Recreation

The City of Ceres maintains eleven parks for public use. Ceres's largest park is the Ceres River Bluff Regional Park.

Economy

Ceres is home to the Bronco Wine Company, makers of Charles Shaw wine, also known as "Two-Buck Chuck".

Transportation

Altamont Corridor Express commuter rail train service is expected to be extended to a new station in Ceres by 2023.

Notable people

• Cliff Barrows - the ministry partner and announcer at the Billy Graham evangelistic crusades
• Gary Condit - former Democratic U.S. Congressman from 1989 to 2002
• Gary Duncan - guitarist for Quicksilver Messenger Service
• Wayne Hardin - College Football Hall of Famer, former football and basketball coach at Ceres High School
• Kenny Pierce - former bass guitar player for Buck Owens' Buckaroos from 1960 to 1962
• Cade Cowell - professional soccer player for San Jose Earthquakes
• Sis Bates - softball player for the Washington Huskies

See also

In Spanish: Ceres (California) para niños