Stockton Businesses
Stockton was incorporated in 1890 and it was a bustling town then and it continues today. We have an exhibit of many of the advertising, promotional and functional artifacts given out and sold by Stockton’s many businesses. There is a roll-top desk from Stockton-Wards Grove Insurance Company. A Burroughs Electric Bookkeeping machine, a popcorn machine from Lynch’s Confectionery and seats out of the Stockton Theatre. You can view signs, fans, calendars, clothing, tons of promo items and all sorts of ephemera. There is also a display of the Great Fire that destroyed most of a block of Stockton buildings in 1896. We have hundreds of items on display. There is a flip file of photographs of Stockton’s buildings and businesses made accessible to visitors. Many are enlargements from old postcards. Adjacent to the flip file are detailed maps of Stockton in 1912 and 1926 showing which business was located in each lot or address at the time.
