Modesto, California - Tourism

Tourism

Modesto is known for the following tourist attractions and historical sites.

• McHenry Mansion Built by hand in the early 1880s by Robert McHenry, a local rancher and banker. The mansion is included on the National Register of Historic Places. Tours are given.

Currently no tours are given due to a Fire that damaged the front of the Mansion. A fire at the McHenry Mansion late Tuesday Dec 7, 2011 damaged the exterior of the building and there was water damage to the interior of the building due to the fire sprinklers being activated by the heat of the fire. The Modesto Regional Fire Authority did tremendous work in putting the fire out quickly and continues to investigate the cause of the fire. As a result of the damage, the McHenry Mansion will be closed to the public through February while the damage is assessed and repaired.

• McHenry Museum Across the street from the McHenry Mansion. Filled with tidbits from Modesto's history
• George Lucas Plaza American Graffiti-inspired bronze statue made in the honor of Modesto filmmaker George Lucas, located at Five Points (the intersections of McHenry Avenue, "J" Street, 17th Street, Downey and Needham).
• Gallo Center for the Arts, Center for performing arts recently opened and is located in downtown Modesto at 1000 "I" Street.
• Downtown Modesto is known for having a variety of restaurants and night life. It also hosts a multi-venue Art Walk year around on the Third Thursday of the Month, free to view with maps available.
• The State Theatre Dating back to the 1920s, it was recently renovated and serves as a local performance arts center and as a theater specializing in independent and foreign films.
• John Thurman Field The stadium renovated several years ago, the home of the Modesto Nuts baseball team (single "A" affiliate of the Colorado Rockies team).
• Graceada Park Neighborhood an area of representative old homes (circa 1920s and earlier) with streets lined with large city planted shade trees and a series of parks, a bandshell and other amenities. The name Graceada is based on two old local ladies that helped promote the idea of a park, Grace and Ada.

The 1973 movie, American Graffiti, starring Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss and Cindy Williams was set in 1962 Modesto; however, the scenes of weekend cruising were actually filmed in Petaluma, California.