Merced Falls, California

Merced Falls
Merced Falls
Unincorporated community
	Merced Falls Location in California Merced Falls Merced Falls (the United States)
	Coordinates: 37°31′23″N 120°19′57″W / 37.52306°N 120.33250°W
Country	United States
State	California
County	Merced County
Elevation	348 ft (106 m)

Merced Falls (Merced, Spanish for "Mercy") is an unincorporated community in Merced County, California.^[1] It is located on the north bank of the Merced River 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Snelling,^[2] at an elevation of 348 feet (106 m).^[1] Merced Falls was named for a set of rapids on the Merced River.

A post office operated at Merced Falls from 1856 to 1957.^[2] The town was founded here because in the California Gold Rush, the three main crossings of the Merced River on the Stockton - Los Angeles Road were located within 2 miles (3.2 km) downstream of the rapids of Merced Falls. Closest to the falls was Phillips' Ferry, then Belts Ferry (later Murray's Ferry and Murray's Bridge and near what later became Merced Falls), and then Young's Ferry.^[2] Murray's Bridge was washed away in the Great Flood of 1862 but was later rebuilt.^[3]

The rapids of Merced Falls was used in the 1890s to power several watermills located in the town. A pair of sawmills in Merced Falls cut wood for the Yosemite and Sugar Pine Lumber Company, which shipped lumber down from the Sierra Nevada on the Yosemite Valley Railroad. The city continued to function well into the 1920s as a hub for tourists travelling into Yosemite Valley via the railroad. With the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad north-south across the Central Valley, many towns including Merced Falls that were not on the railroad fell into disrepair. The rapids themselves were inundated by McSwain Dam, built across the Merced River in the 1960s. Merced Falls is now surrounded by irrigated farmland, and the community itself is almost abandoned.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Merced Falls, California
^ ^a ^b ^c Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. p. 801. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
^ The Flood at Stanislaus County, California Farmer and Journal of Useful Sciences, Volume 16, Number 14, January 10, 1862

External links

[gnis-1] U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Merced Falls, California

[CGN-2] Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. p. 801. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.

[3] The Flood at Stanislaus County, California Farmer and Journal of Useful Sciences, Volume 16, Number 14, January 10, 1862

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v t e Municipalities and communities of Merced County, California, United States
County seat: Merced
Cities	Atwater Dos Palos Gustine Livingston Los Banos Merced	Merced County map
CDPs	Ballico Bear Creek Cressey Delhi Dos Palos Y El Nido Franklin Hilmar-Irwin Le Grand McSwain Planada Santa Nella Snelling South Dos Palos Stevinson Tuttle University of California-Merced Volta Winton
Unincorporated communities	Amsterdam Athlone Buhach Cortez Hilmar Hopeton Ingomar Irwin Lingard Merced Falls Plainsburg Santa Rita Park
Ghost towns	Lone Willow Station St. Louis Ranch Yamato Colony
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v t e Rivers of California's Central Valley watershed (north-to-south)
Sacramento River watershed	Pit River McCloud River Cow Creek Cottonwood Creek Battle Creek Mill Creek Deer Creek Thomes Creek Big Chico Creek Stony Creek Butte Creek Feather River North Fork East Branch West Branch Middle Fork South Fork Yuba River Bear River American River North Fork Middle Fork South Fork Cache Creek Putah Creek
San Joaquin River watershed	Mokelumne River Cosumnes River Calaveras River Stanislaus River Tuolumne River Clavey River Cherry Creek Merced River Mariposa Creek Chowchilla River Fresno River
Tulare Basin	Kings River Kaweah River Tule River White River Poso Creek Kern River