Forgotten Athlone: Once home to county’s first college
Athlone was an old railroad town located about 10 miles southeast of Merced.
The construction of the Southern Pacific Railroad gave birth to Athlone in about 1872, it was also a stage stop on the way to Plainsburg.
Athlone was a very small community and was razed in 1950 during an expansion of Highway 99.
The location was…