Beard and MET Railroad have grown alongside Modesto’s industrial economy for more than a century. Today, their shared ownership creates something rare: land, rail, infrastructure, and decision-making working together through one connected team.
For more than 100 years, Beard Land & Improvement Company and Modesto & Empire Traction Company have operated side by side, supporting the industrial growth of Modesto and the surrounding region.
What makes the platform different today is not just its history. It is the way the pieces work together: land, development, infrastructure, and MET Railroad service under one coordinated team.
Guided by a family business legacy and the values of fairness, community service, and continuity, Beard and MET Railroad continue to serve customers, employees, shareholders, and the broader Modesto community with a long-term view.
The Beard family’s connection to California began in 1861, when Elihu Burritt Beard received a land grant from President Abraham Lincoln for property that remains in the family today.
What started with agriculture and land stewardship has grown into more than a century of industrial development and railroad history. Across eight family lines and roughly 200 shareholders, Beard remains committed to long-term ownership, practical decision-making, and the continued success of the industrial district it helped build.
More than a century of family ownership means consistency, institutional knowledge, and long-term thinking. We’re not managing assets for quarterly returns. We’re operating a business our family has been invested in for generations—and will be for generations to come. That history shapes how we work, how we partner, and how we solve problems. It’s not nostalgia. It’s an enduring belief that what we’ve built lasts.