Hills Ferry is a small

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

of the northern

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...

in Stanislaus County, California. Hills Ferry is located at .

Geography

The community is on the southern border of Stanislaus County with

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 ...

, and is located northeast of the city of Newman. Hills Ferry is just west of the river mouth of the

Merced River The Merced River (), in the central part of the U.S. state of California, is a -long tributary of the San Joaquin River flowing from the Sierra Nevada into the San Joaquin Valley. It is most well known for its swift and steep course through th ...

, at its confluence with the

San Joaquin River The San Joaquin River (; es, Río San Joaquín) is the longest river of Central California. The long river starts in the high Sierra Nevada, and flows through the rich agricultural region of the northern San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suis ...

History

Jesse Hill established Hill's Ferry in 1850, a ferry across the San Joaquin River just north of the Merced River's confluence, on the

Mexican land grant The Spanish and Mexican governments made many concessions and land grants in Alta California (now known as California) and Baja California from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish Concessions of land were made to retired soldiers as an inducement for ...

Rancho Orestimba y Las Garzas Rancho Orestimba y Las Garzas (Meetingplace and the Herons) was a Mexican land grant in present-day Stanislaus County and Merced County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Sebastián Núñez. The grant was originally i ...

. In May 1868 Scottish botanist John Muir crossed here on his walk from Oakland to Yosemite. (Muir, John, “Rambles of a Botanist Among the Plants and Climates of California” (1872) In 1888 the Southern Pacific Railroad established a new station nearby named Newman Station. The Simon Newman Company store building was in Hills Ferry, which later served as Fisher's Opera House until demolished in 1904. In July 1906 a fire near Hills Ferry and Newman destroyed 2,500 acres of wheat and barley and 20,000 acres of pasture, along with hay, farm equipment and buildings.eReferencedesk.com: History of Stanislaus County, California
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References

Unincorporated communities in Stanislaus County, California Merced River Ferry transportation in California History of Stanislaus County, California Populated places established in 1850 1850 establishments in California Unincorporated communities in California {{StanislausCountyCA-geo-stub