From Railroads To Dairy Trucks

A vintage ice truck from the Merced Dairy and Ice Company will be on display this Sunday, Feb. 2, during the annual meeting of the Merced County Historical Society.

A westbound Yosemite Valley Railroad train near Snelling.

The Yosemite Valley Railroad Depot and Roundhouse in Merced where Fremont School is located today. Notice the area west of R Street was underdeveloped at the time.

Ben Santi, at left, the founder of Merced Dairy.

By SARAH LIM
Special to the Times

Railroads played a significant part in the establishment and development of Merced from its inception into the 1940s

Founded as a railroad town in 1872, Merced was incorporated as a sixth-class municipality in 1889 due to population growth. The City of Merced continued to grow at a modest pace in the early 20th century, with much of its residential and commercial development limited to central Merced, bordered by Bear Creek to the north, G Street to the east, 13th Street to the south, and O Street to the west.

In 1906, the construction of the Yosemite Valley Railroad from Merced to El Portal added a third railroad line to serve Merced — in addition to Southern Pacific (formerly Central Pacific) and Santa Fe.

As a result, Merced experienced a boom in population, services, and organizations over this decade. The Yosemite Valley Railroad was critical to Merced’s westward expansion since its station was at the west end of Main Street where the Westgate Shopping Center is today, and its roundhouse was situated at the present-day site of John C. Fremont Elementary School.

The choice of Merced as the headquarters of the YVRR brought jobs to the city, increased demand for goods and services, and may have been an impetus in the surge of building construction in the decade that followed. The new El Capitan Hotel, Lounsbury Garage, Shaffer Building, the Odd Fellows Hall, Kocher Hardware, the Angelus Hotel, and Horstmann House were all built in the 1910s.

As for residential expansion, the area between R and M Streets was soon developed after the YVRR opened. Many of the YVRR employees with families purchased homes in this area partly because of its proximity to the YVRR station and roundhouse. Moreover, to accommodate single lodgers, the first apartment in Merced was built by Courthouse Park.

In addition to railroad workers, young professionals – insurance and real estate agents, doctors, and bank officials – built their homes in what is now known as the Courthouse Park Neighborhood.

The area west of R Street did not fare as well because the Yosemite Valley Railroad tracks, laid down in the middle of R Street, may have impeded its growth. Historically, this area, north of 16th Street, west of R Street, and south and east of Bear Creek, was known as “Spaghetti Acres,” an Italian settlement with a few farmhouses and acres of farmlands.

After nearly two decades of financial struggle since the opening of the all-weather highway to Yosemite, the Yosemite Valley Railroad closed all of its operations and sold off the tracks for scrap in 1945. As a result of YVRR’s shuttering and the removal of its tracks, Merced’s west end finally saw development in the late 1940s.

Upcoming Presentation

For more information about the history of the Yosemite Valley Railroad, there will be an interesting presentation by well-known YV historian Jack Burgess on Feb. 2. Burgess is the keynote speaker for this year’s Merced County Historical Society Annual Membership Meeting. The membership meeting will be held on Sunday, Feb. 2, at 2 p.m., inside the Merced Women’s Clubhouse at 707 W. 22nd Street.

For history lovers, you will not only be entertained by Jack Burgess’s informative presentation about the YVRR but also have the opportunity to tour the historic Women’s Clubhouse, where the meeting will be held, and check out the progress of its restoration. In addition, you will also be able to see the 1930 Ford Model A Truck from the Merced Ice and Cold Storage Company.

This newest addition to the Historical Society’s collection is from the generous donation of the Don and Betty Stewart family. Merced Dairy was started by Betty’s father, Ben Santi, in 1919. Ben Santi, a native of Switzerland, left his home in the Swiss Alps for a new life in America in 1912. He and his younger brother Antone arrived on Ellis Island and then traveled across the continent to Humboldt County, where a small group of Swiss immigrants were already settled.

After moving to a couple of places to escape the cold weather, Ben settled in sunny Merced in 1915 and found work in a small dairy. He picked up cans of milk daily from farms in a horse-drawn wagon and delivered milk to local homes. This practice was known as “from can to pitcher.”

Ben bought a small dairy, paying for it with unpaid back wages and small loans from his friends. Ben started Merced Dairy in the Odd Fellows Building and later relocated it to the corner of 16th and O Streets.

A few years later, an ice plant was added, and the name changed to Merced Dairy and Ice Co. The ice truck that will be on display Sunday was used in the plant.

Restored by Raymond Lopez and his son David, this Ice Truck will now be the Historical Society’s goodwill ambassador that will be seen in parades and at celebrations around Merced County. And one of its first official duties is to welcome guests to the annual meeting this Sunday at 2 p.m.

The membership meeting and the program are open to the public. For more information, please contact the museum office at (209) 723-2401 or follow online at: facebook.com/mercedmuseum.