Cressey (formerly, Cressy) is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in Merced County,

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 ...

. It is located north-northwest of Atwater, at an elevation of 167 feet (51 m). The population was 366 at the 2020 United States census, down from 393 in 2010. Cressey is located in the northern part of Merced County. It is just east of where the Santa Fe railroad (the original line of the

San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad The San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad was a California rail line between Stockton and Bakersfield constructed in the late 1890s and very shortly thereafter purchased by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad and became their Val ...

) crosses 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 (U.S.), Sierra Nevada into the San Joaquin Valley. It is most well known for its swift and st ...

. Ballico is across the river to the northwest. Livingston is to the southwest, and Winton is southeast of Cressey. The ZIP Code is 95312. The area 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, Tracy ...

History

The Cressy post office opened in 1882, closed in 1883, re-opened in 1909, and changed its name to Cressey in 1912. The town was named by the Atchison,

Topeka Topeka ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeaste ...

and Santa Fe Railway for Calvin J. Cressey, local landowner. Cressey is patrolled by the Merced County Sheriffs Office. Cressey has one elementary school (Ballico-Cressey School District, K-2).

Geography

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 CDP covers an area of 1.8 square miles (4.6 km), all of it land. To the north of Cressey, beyond the Merced River, it is considered Ballico. To the south of Cressey, Palm Avenue and beyond, it is considered Winton. To the west of Cressey, over the Santa Fe Rail Road and beyond, it is considered Livingston. To the east of Cressey, off of Cressey Way onto Meadow Drive and beyond, it is considered Winton as well.

Demographics

The 2020 United States census reported that Cressey had a population of 366. The population density was . The racial makeup of Cressey was 182 (49.7%)

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 ...

, 1 (0.3%)

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 ...

, 12 (3.3%) Native American, 13 (3.6%) Asian, 0 (0.0%)

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 ...

, 101 (27.6%) from other races, and 57 (15.6%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 206 persons (56.3%). The whole population lived in households. There were 115 households, out of which 43 (37.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 72 (62.6%) were married-couple households, 5 (4.3%) 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, 15 (13.0%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 23 (20.0%) had a male householder with no partner present. 15 households (13.0%) were one person, and 14 (12.2%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.18. There were 97

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 ...

(84.3% of all households). The age distribution was 118 people (32.2%) under the age of 18, 26 people (7.1%) aged 18 to 24, 81 people (22.1%) aged 25 to 44, 90 people (24.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 51 people (13.9%) who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 33.0years. For every 100 females, there were 93.7 males. There were 117 housing units at an average density of , of which 115 (98.3%) were occupied. Of these, 68 (59.1%) were owner-occupied, and 47 (40.9%) were occupied by renters.

Government

Local

The Merced Irrigation District provides irrigation water. Ballico and Cressey share an elementary school district. Most Cressey students continue to Livingston High School in the Merced Union High School District. Fire protection is provided by

Cal Fire The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, colloquially known as CAL FIRE, is the fire department of the California Natural Resources Agency in the U.S. state of California. It is responsible for fire protection in various are ...

under contract to Merced County Fire Department. Station 64 is staffed with one career fire officer each shift, and local volunteers. Merced County Sheriffs Department is the patrol for this unincorporated area.

State and federal

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). ...

, Cressey is in , and in . 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 ...

, Cressey is in .

References

{{authority control Census-designated places in Merced County, California Census-designated places in California es:Creston (California)