Dos Palos (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

for "Two Timbers") is a city in southern

Merced County Merced County ( ) is a county located in the northern San Joaquin Valley section of the Central Valley, in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 281,202. The county seat is Merced. The county is named after ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Dos Palos is located south-southwest of

Merced Merced (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Mercy") is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California, United States, in the San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 86,333, up ...

, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

, at an elevation of . The population was 5,798 at the 2020 census, up from 4,950 at the 2010 census.

Geography

Dos Palos is located in southern Merced County at . It is southeast of Los Banos and by road west of Madera. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city covers an area of , all of it land.

History

In one of his expeditions during the 1820s along the west side of the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; Spanish language in California, Spanish: ''Valle de San Joaquín'') is the southern half of California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. Famed as a major breadbasket, the San Joaquin Valley is an importa ...

, explorer

Gabriel Moraga Gabriel Moraga (1765 – June 14, 1823) was a Sonoran-born Californio soldier, administrator, and explorer. As an explorer in Alta California, Gabriel Moraga found and gave names to a number of rivers in the Central Valley. Gabriel's son Joaqu� ...

reported the location of two large isolated poplar trees, which he called "Dos Palos". In 19th-century Spanish usage, ''palos'' was used to describe tall pole-like trees or "timbers". 21st-century usage often translates it as "sticks". The " Rancho Sanjon de Santa Rita" Mexican land grant cites "Los Dos Palos" or "The Two Trees" as a boundary marker. In 1891, former school superintendent Bernhard Marks convinced cattle ranch king

Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, so ...

to develop a small town nearby. They gave it the name "Dos Palos Colony" but pronounced it with their ethnic accents (Marks a Polish Jew and Miller an Alsatian German) as "Dahce Palace". This pronunciation remained for over one hundred years until a recent Spanish pronunciation revival. Marks brought forty pioneer families west from

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

and

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

to establish the community. In 1892, unable to find good water, many of the settlers left. Marks convinced Miller to establish another town two miles away on land unsuitable for farming and ranching due to swamps and unsettling soils. Some of the settlers relocated. This new town was named "Colony Center". In 1906, Dos Palos Colony was renamed South Dos Palos and Colony Center was renamed Dos Palos. The Post Office was briefly misspelled as one word, "Dospalos" but this was changed within a year. About a dozen of the colony's original families still reside locally. Through the years, people from many other locations joined the community. Dos Palos incorporated in 1935. On January 1, 2008, surrounding the community of Dos Palos were transferred from

Fresno County Fresno County (), officially the County of Fresno, is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,008,654. The county seat is Fresno, the fifth-most populo ...

Demographics

2020

The 2020 United States census reported that Dos Palos had a population of 5,798. The population density was . The racial makeup of Dos Palos was 40.8%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 2.5%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 2.4% Native American, 1.0% Asian, 0.3%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 36.8% from other races, and 16.4% from two or more races.

Hispanic or Latino ''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While many use the terms interchangeably, for example, the United States Census Bureau ...

of any race were 72.2% of the population. The whole population lived in households. There were 1,723 households, out of which 50.0% included children under the age of 18, 51.8% were married-couple households, 9.3% were

cohabiting Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not legally married live together as a couple. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become incr ...

couple households, 23.6% had a female householder with no partner present, and 15.3% had a male householder with no partner present. 14.9% of households were one person, and 7.5% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.37. There were 1,390

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

(80.7% of all households). The age distribution was 29.8% under the age of 18, 10.0% aged 18 to 24, 26.3% aged 25 to 44, 21.8% aged 45 to 64, and 12.0% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 32.1years. For every 100 females, there were 96.5 males. There were 1,803 housing units at an average density of , of which 1,723 (95.6%) were occupied. Of these, 62.2% were owner-occupied, and 37.8% were occupied by renters. In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that 32.5% of the population were foreign-born. Of all people aged 5 or older, 46.1% spoke only English at home, 46.6% spoke

, 4.7% spoke other

Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

, and 2.6% spoke Asian or Pacific Islander languages. Of those aged 25 or older, 68.1% were high school graduates and 11.5% had a bachelor's degree. The median household income was $50,556, and the

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

was $23,385. About 7.8% of families and 14.7% of the population were below the poverty line.

2010

At the 2010 census Dos Palos had a population of 4,950. The population density was . The racial makeup of Dos Palos was 3,377 (68.2%) White, 167 (3.4%) African American, 62 (1.3%) Native American, 37 (0.7%) Asian, 4 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 1,075 (21.7%) from other races, and 228 (4.6%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3,075 persons (62.1%). The census reported that 4,922 people (99.4% of the population) lived in households, no one lived in non-institutionalized group quarters and 28 (0.6%) were institutionalized. There were 1,501 households, 731 (48.7%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 816 (54.4%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 232 (15.5%) had a female householder with no husband present, 130 (8.7%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 119 (7.9%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 7 (0.5%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 261 households (17.4%) were one person and 116 (7.7%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 3.28. There were 1,178 families (78.5% of households); the average family size was 3.69. The age distribution was 1,571 people (31.7%) under the age of 18, 532 people (10.7%) aged 18 to 24, 1,199 people (24.2%) aged 25 to 44, 1,114 people (22.5%) aged 45 to 64, and 534 people (10.8%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 31.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.1 males. There were 1,700 housing units at an average density of 1,259.5 per square mile, of the occupied units 929 (61.9%) were owner-occupied and 572 (38.1%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.2%; the rental vacancy rate was 8.9%. 2,955 people (59.7% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 1,967 people (39.7%) lived in rental housing units.

Government

In the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members). ...

, Dos Palos is in , and . In the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, Dos Palos is in

California's 13th congressional district California's 13th congressional district is a California's congressional districts, congressional district in the U.S. state of California. Adam Gray, a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, has represented this district since January 20 ...

and is represented by

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Adam Gray Adam Channing Gray (born September 23, 1977) is an American politician who is a member of the United States House of Representatives from after defeating Republican incumbent John Duarte in the 2024 election. A Democrat, he previously served ...

. Members of the Dos Palos City Council serve four year terms. The 92nd and current panel consists of: *Mayor April Hogue, term ends November 20, 2024 *Mayor Pro Tem Debbie Orlando, term ends November 15, 2022 *Councilmember Armando Bravo, term ends November 20, 2024 *Councilmember Thomas Pigg, term ends November 15, 2022 *Councilmember Marcus Porter, term ends November 20, 2024.

Notable people

* Ana Isabel de Alba, lawyer and judge *

Myron Joseph Cotta Myron Joseph Cotta (born March 21, 1953) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church. He was appointed as the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Stockton in California by Pope Francis on January 23, 2018. His installation M ...

, bishop, Diocese of Stockton * Malcolm "Ike" Frankian, NFL football player with New York Giants, coach of Los Angeles Bulldogs, coach at Dos Palos High School *

Dave Henderson David Lee Henderson (July 21, 1958 – December 27, 2015), nicknamed "Hendu", was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletic ...

, MLB baseball outfielder for Oakland A's and four other teams * Shawn Hillegas, MLB baseball pitcher for Oakland A's and four other teams * Cody Martin, MLB pitcher for the Oakland A's and two other teams

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities in Merced County, California Incorporated cities and towns in California 1935 establishments in California