ABOUT

French Camp is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Joaquin County, California, United States. The population was 3,376 at the 2010 census, down from 4,109 at the 2000 census. San Joaquin General Hospital is located in French Camp. In recent years, Stockton has attempted to incorporate French Camp, allegedly in order to tax the current residents of the town. 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.

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 Camp de Los Franceses. French Camp was also known as Castoria, the Latin word for "beaver" being "castor", reflecting its central role in the California Fur Rush.