Knights Ferry is an unincorporated historic community in

Stanislaus County , image_skyline = , image_caption = Images, from top down, left to right: Modesto Arch, Knights Ferry's General Store, a view of the Tuolumne River from Waterford , image_flag = , i ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Nestled in the foothills of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

, it is about east of

Modesto Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton ...

on the

Stanislaus River The Stanislaus River is a tributary of the San Joaquin River in north-central California in the United States. The main stem of the river is long, and measured to its furthest headwaters it is about long. Originating as three forks in the high ...

. The Willms' Ranch near the town, was one of many filming locations for the

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U ...

'' and ''

Little House on the Prairie The ''Little House on the Prairie'' books is a series of American children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder (b. Laura Elizabeth Ingalls). The stories are based on her childhood and adolescence in the Midwestern United States, American M ...

''. Knights Ferry is home to the Knights Ferry Bridge, the longest

covered bridge A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...

west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

at in length. It is also home to
K-8 elementary school
and a museum about the history of the town and also about local wildlife. The town's ruins include a mill and a jail.

History

When gold was discovered in California in 1849, Dr. William Knight rediscovered a place which he and John C. Fremont had previously found to be a favorable river crossing, and established a

ferry boat A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...

there. Soon, the ferry boat prospered and Knight and Captain James Vantine built a hotel and trading post near the crossing. On November 9, 1849, Knight was killed in a gunfight and was buried in an unmarked grave. Knight's family believed he was stabbed to death in his bed and was buried near the gate in the yard of John Dent's house, which was Dr. Knight's place at the time. John Dent and his brother Lewis immediately took possession of Bill Knight's property at Knight's Ferry following the murder. After Knight's death, Vantine operated the ferry alone until he formed another collaboration with John and Lewis Dent, whose sister

Julia Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e.g ...

married future U.S. President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

. In 1852, Vantine sold his properties in the area to the Dents and moved elsewhere. A new townsite under the name of "Dentville" was laid out by John Dent. The inhabitants continued to call the town "Knights Ferry" and "Knights Crossing". In 1852 a toll bridge replaced the ferry, but it was destroyed by the Great Flood of 1862. The new covered bridge was built at a higher level than the previous one, and it still stands today. This bridge was used for car traffic until it was closed in 1985 to prevent damage. In addition to being the longest covered bridge west of the

, the bridge is one of the nation's finest examples of a

Howe truss A Howe truss is a truss bridge consisting of chords, verticals, and diagonals whose vertical members are in tension and whose diagonal members are in compression. The Howe truss was invented by William Howe in 1840, and was widely used as a bridg ...

covered bridge. It was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 2012. Knights Ferry became the county seat in 1862, replacing La Grange. It was soon succeeded by the new, prosperous railroad

boomtown A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although ...

, in 1871.

Tourism

The following is a list of historic contributions that make up the Knights Ferry Historic District. *

Abraham Schell House The Abraham Schell House is a historic two-story house located in Knights Ferry, California. It was first built out of sandstone in 1856 for Abraham and Catherine Schell, owners of the Rancho del Río Estanislao Rancho del Río Estanislao (also ...

. Built in 1856, it was built of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

for Abraham Schell, owner of the

Rancho del Río Estanislao Rancho del Río Estanislao (also called Ranchería Del Rio Estanislao) was a Mexican land grant in present-day Stanislaus County and Calaveras County, California given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Francisco Rico and José Castro. ...

. *Lewis Dent House. Built in 1851, it was owned by

Lewis Dent Lewis T. Dent (also known as Louis Dent, March 3, 1823 – March 22, 1874) was an American explorer, judge, and politician. He was the brother-in-law of Ulysses S. Grant. Dent was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1823, the son of Frederick Dent an ...

, the brother-in-law of future President

, who visited Knights Ferry in 1852, when he was an army captain in Benicia and Eureka. It is the oldest home in the community. *Knights Ferry Community Church. Built in 1890 to replace the previous structure constructed in 1860, the church conserved the original pews, altar and upper windows. The church still hosts services by Pastor Bob Sadler. *General Store. California's oldest operating general store was built in 1852 by Moulton and Drew as the second structure in the town. It was bought by George Valpey, who became a

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...

agent in 1867. *Millers Hall. Constructed in 1863, the building operated as a restaurant, pool and poker parlor on the ground floor, and a dance hall upstairs. It was restored in 1984 by the Knights Ferry History and Museum Associates and now is home to the post office, community library, ice cream parlor and local-made goods shop.

Recreation

Located next to Knights Ferry is the Knights Ferry Recreation Area, managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This recreation area includes a "put in" location for Class I-II rafting trips on the Stanislaus River. Rafting most often occurs April through October. Water in the lower Stanislaus is discharged from the base of New Melones Dam, resulting in clear and cold water even in the warmest months of summer. The Army Corps of Engineers maintains recreational facilities along the Stanislaus River. Park rangers caution rafters to exercise caution and use life vests, as the rapids below Knights Ferry can be challenging when the river is high. The ZIP Code is 95361. The town is inside

area code 209 Area codes 209 and 350 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the U.S. state of California. Their service area includes Stockton, Modesto, Turlock, Merced, Winton, Atwater, Livingston, Manteca, Ripon, Tr ...

. Knights Ferry is part of the Modesto

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

Willms Ranch

Willms Ranch is a California Historical Landmark in Knights Ferry. The California Historical Landmark number 415 reads: :''NO. 415 THE WILLMS RANCH - Arriving in California October 12, 1849, John R. Willms and John H. Kappelmann engaged in the hotel and butcher businesses in Buena Vista, in what is now Stanislaus County. They bought up mining claims and settler's claims until, by 1852, they had a tract of 3,600 acres. The 'KW' brand was the first in Stanislaus County in 1852. After the death of Kappelmann, Willms carried on alone, and the ranch has been owned by the Willms family ever since. ''

Government

In the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legisla ...

, Knights Ferry is in , and in . In the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, Knights Ferry is in .

Sister city

San Jerónimo (Los Barbosa),

Jalisco Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal En ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Climate

According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Knights Ferry has a

warm-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

, abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps.Climate Summary for Knights Ferry, California
/ref>

References

External links

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Stanislaus County, California History of Stanislaus County, California History of the San Joaquin Valley Stanislaus River Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in Stanislaus County, California Unincorporated communities in California Georgian Revival architecture in California Gothic Revival architecture in California California Historical Landmarks