Rancho Cordova, Sacramento County
Rancho Cordova took its name from a vineyard and became a city in 2003. Two employers shaped it long before that. Mather Field trained Army and Air Force fliers from 1918 until the base closed in 1993, and Aerojet began building rocket engines on old gold dredging land east of town in the 1950s. Mather is now a cargo airport and business park.