Merced Falls (''Merced'',

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 Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

for "Mercy") is an

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 ...

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 state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. It is located on the north bank 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 ...

east of Snelling, at an elevation of 348 feet (106 m). Merced Falls was named for a set of rapids 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 Stockton may refer to: Places Australia * Stockton, New South Wales * Stockton, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region New Zealand *Stockton, New Zealand United Kingdom * Stockton, Cheshire *Stockton, Norfolk * Stockton, Chi ...

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 but was later rebuilt._''California_Farmer
_and_Journal_of_Useful_Sciences'',_Volume_16,_Number_14,_January_10,_1862_—_The_Flood_at_Stanislaus_County.html" ;"title="California Farmer"> ''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 Yosemite Valley Railroad (YVRR) was a short-line railroad operating from 1907 to 1945 in the state of California, mostly following the Merced River from Merced to Yosemite National Park, carrying a mixture of passenger and freight traffic. ...

. The city continued to function well into the 1920s as a hub for tourists travelling into

Yosemite Valley Yosemite Valley ( ; ''Yosemite'', Miwok for "killer") is a glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada mountains of Central California. The valley is about long and deep, surrounded by high granite summits such as Hal ...

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 Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

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