By SARAH LIM
Special to the Times
Recently, the County of Merced held its inaugural “State of the County” event at the historic Merced Theatre. While celebrating our county’s accomplishments and reflecting on the challenges of 2025, one can’t help but appreciate the rich history of our county and community, especially being in the beautiful historic theatre. This got me thinking about how Merced was named.
It is common knowledge that the city was named after the county, and the county was named after the Merced River. The story about how Ensign Gabriel Moraga discovered and named the river on a hot summer day during a Spanish expedition in 1806 has been told repeatedly, but the actual story of the naming of the City of Merced is little known.
The Central Pacific Railroad Company played a major role in the selection and the naming of Merced, which was established as a railroad town in 1872. Merced was known as Bear Creek prior to the coming of the railroad. The settlement started in January 1871, with the establishment of a store, saloon, and blacksmith shop in the area where Bear Creek and today’s Kibby Road intersect.
The selection of the current town site was the work of a railroad agent named Charles Henry Huffman, who secured rights-of-way land from prominent farmers, including John Montgomery, Warner Oliver, Joseph Goodale, William Fowler, and Job Wheat. It took a little more to convince Oliver, who was going to hold on to his land and sell later, betting its value would rise considerably once the town was laid out. Huffman told him that it was not the case because he would bypass Oliver’s property and build the town elsewhere. In the summer of 1871, these landowners deeded their land to the Contract and Finance Company, which built the Central Pacific Railroad.
The railroad company had big plans for Bear Creek and intended to make it the transportation hub in this part of the Central Valley since it was the gateway to Yosemite. As reported in the San Joaquin Valley Argus dated July 29, 1871,
It is the general belief that upon Bear Creek will be built the large town of the valley, and many are in a high state of excitement, eagerly watching the movements of the company (Central Pacific) to ascertain, if possible, where the town will be located that they may commence to buy up land to build upon or for speculative purposes. The section of Merced county south of the Merced River is capable of affording trade sufficient to build up a large and important town, and when the railroad is completed to a central point, improvements will be made with greater rapidity than was ever before known in this section of the State. The land is considered as first quality and capable of supporting a dense population, and with such transportation facilities as the railroad will afford, it being necessarily the terminus of travel by rail on the Yosemite route, the growth of the embryo town cannot but be rapid and permanent.
Bear Creek was on the brink of becoming the center of local commerce, as described in the September 16th edition of the Argus: “It seems to be the unanimous opinion of the people that the Bear Creek town is destined to become the principal business point in the valley, and that a grand rush will take place to it as soon as the company announces the opening of the sale of lots. It is a central point in the valley, and will command the trade and travel of a large and rich section of country.”
The name of Merced first appeared in the November 18, 1871 Argus when surveyors laid out the new town on Bear Creek. As predicted, Merced grew rapidly after the lot sales in February 1872. The railroad continued to invest heavily in this new town by erecting an elegant four-story hotel known as the El Capitan next to the tracks. It was “a monster building for an inland town,” according to Elliott and Moore’s History of Merced County, and helped establish Merced as the gateway to Yosemite.
The next step for the railroad company was a political one. It donated land to the County of Merced for the construction of a new courthouse and a public park just before the November 1872 election of a new county seat. This indirect move was a vote of confidence in Merced, leading voters to select it over the original county seat, Snelling, and the rival railroad town, Livingston. The election result finally fulfilled the railroad company’s vision for Bear Creek as the center of commerce and government.
The prosperity that accompanied the railroad’s expansion into this area of the Central Valley gave the town along Bear Creek an importance that needed to be reflected in its name. What is more appropriate than naming it after the county?
You can learn more about the history of Merced County by visiting the Courthouse Museum located on the corner of 21st and N Street, Wednesday through Sunday, from 1 to 4 p.m. Our current exhibit is “In Memory of the Old Library.” Also, we still have tickets for our annual Tea Party on April 18, and your support will benefit museum programs like the current exhibit. For ticket information, please call the Museum Office at (209) 723-2401.
Sarah Lim is the director of the Merced County Courthouse Museum.