Modesto Arch

A wrought-iron arch spanning Ninth Street at I Street in downtown Modesto, erected in 1912 to greet motorists arriving from the train depot. The slogan illuminated in neon along the top — "Water Wealth Contentment Health" — is one of California's most recognised pieces of small-city civic boosterism.

The arch was the model for the one in George Lucas's American Graffiti, although Lucas filmed in Petaluma. It has been restored several times, most recently in 2009, and still has its original lamps. The best photographs are at dusk when the neon comes on. The intersection beneath is a busy crossroads; take care with traffic if you stop in the middle for the perfect shot.

things to do sight landmark
A story
The arch's famous slogan — Water, Wealth, Contentment, Health — was the winning entry in a 1911 newspaper contest, written by a local man named James Davitt. He won a prize of three dollars. Davitt died only a few months later in a railway accident before the arch was lit.

Other places in Things to Do