Merced County, California
The county derives its name from the Merced River, or El Río de Nuestra Señora de la Merced (River of Our Lady of Mercy), named in 1806 by an expedition headed by Gabriel Moraga, which came upon it at the end of a hot dusty ride on the El Camino Viejo across the San Joaquin Valley in Spanish colonial Las Californias Province.As of 2008, according to the Lao Family Community, a nonprofit organization, about 8,000 Hmong lived in Merced County.The Board consists of five members, elected by districts, who serve four-year staggered terms.[28] In the California State Legislature, Merced County is in the 27th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Esmeralda Soria, and the 14th Senate District, represented by Democrat Anna Caballero.According to the California Secretary of State, as of October 20, 2008, there were 97,179 registered voters in Merced County.Atwater and the county's unincorporated areas have Republican plurality registration advantages.All of the other cities and towns in the county have Democratic pluralities or majorities in voter registration.The following table includes the number of incidents reported and the rate per 1,000 persons for each type of offense.According to America's Labor Market Information System 2014 report,[36] the companies with the largest employment in Merced are, in alphabetical order: Merced County grows 90% of California's sweet potato crop,[37] due in part to the efforts of John Buttencourt Avila, called "the father of the sweet potato industry".
CountyMerced TheatreSan Luis ReservoirUC MercedCastle Air MuseumAtwaterCaliforniaRegionSan Joaquin ValleyIncorporatedNamed forMerced RiverCounty seatMercedCouncil–CEOChief executive officerTime zoneUTC−8Pacific Time ZoneUTC−7Pacific Daylight TimeZIP codeArea codeCentral ValleyU.S. state2020 censusMetropolitan Statistical AreaModestoCombined Statistical AreaFresno CountyFresnoSanta Clara CountySan JoseGabriel MoragaEl Camino ViejoLas CaliforniasAlta CaliforniaMexican land grantsRancho Orestimba y Las GarzasRancho Panoche de San Juan y Los CarrisolitosRancho San Luis GonzagaRancho Sanjon de Santa RitaMariposa CountyU.S. Census BureauMerced National Wildlife RefugeSan Luis National Wildlife RefugeBlack or African AmericanNative AmericanAlaska NativePacific IslanderOther RaceMixed Race or MultiracialHispanic or LatinoBallicoBear CreekCresseyDos PalosDos Palos YEl NidoFranklinGustineHilmar-IrwinLe GrandLivingstonLos BanosMcSwainPlanadaSanta NellaSnellingSouth Dos PalosStevinsonTuttleUniversity of California, MercedWinton2010 United States censusAfrican Americanother racesHispanicLatinoAfricanAmericanNativeAmericanPacificIslanderotherracesIncorporatedcityCensus-designatedplaceunincorporated areascensuspopulation densityPortugueseGermanCensus 2000EnglishSpanishPunjabimarried couplesper capita incomepoverty lineUnited States House of RepresentativesCalifornia's 13th congressional districtDemocratAdam GrayCalifornia State Legislaturethe 27th Assembly DistrictEsmeralda Soriathe 14th Senate DistrictAnna CaballeroAdlai Stevenson IIDwight D. EisenhowerHubert HumphreyRichard NixonHillary ClintonDonald TrumpGeorge W. BushBarack ObamaRepublicanDemocraticThird party(ies)2021 gubernatorial recall electionGavin NewsomBrian DahleE & J Gallo WineryFoster FarmsHilmar Cheese CompanyMcLane PacificMercy Medical Center MercedPacific Gas and Electric Company