Merced Falls (''Merced'', Spanish for "Mercy") is an unincorporated community in Merced County, California. It is located on the north bank of the Merced River east of Snelling, at an elevation of 348 feet (106 m). Merced Falls was named for a set of

rapids Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade''. ...

on the Merced River. A post office operated at Merced Falls from 1856 to 1957. 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 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. Murray's Bridge was washed away in the

Great Flood of 1862 The Great Flood of 1862 was the largest flood in the recorded history of Oregon, Nevada, and California, occurring from December 1861 to January 1862. It was preceded by weeks of continuous rains and snows in the very high elevations that began in ...

but was later rebuilt. ''California Farmer
and Journal of Useful Sciences'', Volume 16, Number 14, January 10, 1862 — The Flood at Stanislaus County">California Farmer"> ''California Farmer
and Journal of Useful Sciences'', Volume 16, Number 14, January 10, 1862 — The Flood at Stanislaus County/ref> 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_Lumber_Company, Yosemite and Sugar Pine Lumber Company, which shipped lumber down from the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), 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 The Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) was a rail company chartered by Pacific Railroad Acts, U.S. Congress in 1862 to build a railroad eastwards from Sacramento, California, to complete the western part of the "First transcontinental railroad" in N ...

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

External links

MERCED FALLS, California Ghost Town Merced Falls, THE HISTORICAL MARKER DATABASE
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Merced County, California Merced River 1856 establishments in California Unincorporated communities in California