Now that work is moving forward on 1,506 more housing units on both ends of Louise Avenue and the fact it is Manteca’s centennial year, this is a good time to share how the street got its name.
It was supposed to be Louisa Avenue after the wife of Noah Clapp. The Clapps arrived in San Joaquin County in 1849 and bought land initially in Stockton where they were the neighbors of Captain Charles Weber. A short time later, they moved to what is now the Manteca area and started wheat farming.
It was originally named Louisa Avenue but when the county put the signs up it read “Louise” instead. The only family on the road for years was the Clapps.
Years later when Mrs. Clapp was asked why she didn’t have the name corrected she reportedly replied, “it’s just a little lane” and that it would never amount to much.

Why not Great Wolf
Gilroy or Brentwood?
So why did Great Wolf pass on Brentwood and Gilroy and opt for Manteca to build the first Northern California indoor waterpark resort?
Great Wolf was in talks with Brentwood after they broke off talks with Manteca more than three years ago due to issues they had with McWhinney that originally handled the negotiations for the city.
Brentwood’s leadership was eager to land what will now be a 500-room resort and indoor waterpark with a family amusement area complete with at least five restaurants, and a conference center.
As negotiations dragged on Great Wolf looked at Gilroy.
The bottom line in Gilroy was a general feel in the community they had more than enough tourist attractions for a community of 55,000 between the Gilroy Gardens Theme Park, the 130-plus stores that make up the Gilroy Outlet Mall and 10 wineries.
Meanwhile Manteca had said thanks but no thanks to Kalahari Resorts that wanted to build as many as 800 rooms in Manteca with additional outdoor amusements such as an outdoor waterpark, go-carts,. amusement rides and more. The reason Manteca turned down the deal was Kalahari wanted 75 percent of the room tax and for a much longer period plus cuts of the sales and property tax while also wanting the right to say what could and couldn’t go on the city’s remaining 180 acres in the family entertainment zone.
When Great Wolf took a second look at Brentwood and Manteca, Brentwood was a minimum of three months away of being in a position to even get started on needed infrastructure to serve the proposed site while Manteca was ready to go.

Do you know anything about
old Yosemite School time capsule?
Patricia Tzintzun-Gonzales and a group of friends are wondering what has become of the Yosemite School time capsule.
They contacted some former teachers as well as the Manteca Unified School District and have come up empty handed. The West Yosemite Avenue now houses the Manteca Day School.
The following are excerpts from Tzintzun-Gonzales’ email inquiring about the time capsule:
“Unfortunately, because it was so long ago and I was only 10 years old at the time, I don’t remember a lot of detail about the time capsule.  I can remember that it was made into a pretty big deal at the time and I do believe that each student who attended the school during that last year had an opportunity to contribute.  I can remember writing something, perhaps a letter to my older self?  We may have included a picture or a drawing of ourselves as well.
“II attended Yosemite School for fourth and fifth grade.  That would have made me 9 and 10 years old at the time.  Since I’m now 34 years old, I believe that I attended the school during the 1992/1993 and 1993/1994 school years.  If is of any help, my fourth grade teacher was Mrs. Coe and my fifth grade teacher was Ms. Moran.  Ms. Moran was my most memorable school teacher of all.  Everyone adored her!
“I still keep in touch (via social media) with four other girls that were in Ms. Moran’s class during that last year of Yosemite School.  With those girls also keeping in touch with others from our class, we have formed a group chat on Facebook that has so far reached about 12 people from our fifth grade class, all of whom remember participating in the time capsule!  However, none of us remember a lot about it other than what I’ve previously shared.  One friend recalls that it may have been buried in the playground, near the giant tire.  Another believes it may have been buried in front of the school, on the right side of the property.  I don’t remember participating in the actual burial of it at all, maybe I was absent from school that day, but I can sort of recall talks of it being buried in the front of the school as well.
 “. . . Myself, and I believe at least one of the others in the Facebook group chat were in the picture that was featured on the front page of the Bulletin that day.  I’m sure my mom still has a copy of that issue somewhere, I’d love to get a hold of it!
“Myself along with all of my old classmates in the group chat are very excited about this! We hope that with your help, we are able to find out more information about it and eventually get it dug up!”
 If you have any information on the time capsule email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com and type “time capsule” in the subject line.