CENTRAL CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL

DOS PALOS, CA

Merced National Wildlife Refuge Credit: Glenn_N

Central California Historical is a museum located in Dos Palos, California. It is dedicated to preserving and showcasing the history of the Central Valley region of California. The museum features exhibits on a variety of subjects, including the early settlers of the area, agriculture, transportation, and local businesses. Visitors can learn about the region's rich cultural heritage through interactive displays, artifacts, and photographs.

The museum also includes a research library and archives, which houses a collection of historical documents, photographs, and other materials. Researchers and historians can access these resources to learn more about the history of the region and its people.

Central California Historical is housed in a historic building that was once the town's train depot. The building has been restored and renovated to create a modern museum space while retaining its historic charm. The museum is open to the public year-round and hosts special events and exhibits throughout the year.

Overall, Central California Historical is a valuable resource for anyone interested in the history of the Central Valley region of California. Its exhibits and resources provide a unique glimpse into the lives of the people who have shaped this vibrant and diverse area over the years.

CENTRAL CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL is a Historical Societies, Historic Preservation in DOS PALOS CA. US MID #8400600535

The museum is classed as HSC (Historical Societies, Historic Preservation). It comes under American Alliance of Museums (AAM) region: Western (Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington).

Merced / streamline moderne (# 2539) Across from the Bank of Italy building, a streamline moderne buiding. Could not find any history on it.

Merced / Bank of Italy building (# 2537) Built in 1928 as the Bank of Italy building, seemingly fairly ornate for downtown Merced. It’s been through many name changes including the early change from Bank of Italy to Bank of America, and then most recently to Merced County Office of Education.

Merced / downtown (# 2536) Just another view of downtown Merced

Merced / El Capitan IH Travelall (# 2541) A nice touch, the van for the El Capital is an International Harvester Travelall from, I believe, 1971. I hadn’t seen one of these in many years, but it was quite common in the 70’s to see them being used to take small groups of students into the field.

Source: <a href="https://www.classic.com/veh/1971-international-harvester-travelall-1110-44-pro-nQmkbrn/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.classic.com/veh/1971-international-harvester-travelal...</a>

Merced / El Capitan hotel (# 2529) One of my reasons for exploring through Merced was some recent stories about the reopening of an historic hotel in downtown Merced – the El Capitan.

Per the Merced County Times story, the hotel was constructed in 1911, suffered a major fire in 1931, a remodeling in 1936, and then a very major remodeling in 2018. The hotel is now part of a chain in the Hyatt system designed for boutique hotels.

As this and other pictures suggest, downtown Merced was very orderly and attractive. The streets were most likely quiet because Merced is now the home of University of California Merced (opened in 2005) and this was taken on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

<a href="https://elcapitanhotelmerced.com/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">elcapitanhotelmerced.com/</a>
<a href="https://mercedcountytimes.com/remodeling-is-nearly-complete-on-historic-el-capitan-hotel/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">mercedcountytimes.com/remodeling-is-nearly-complete-on-hi...</a>

Merced / The Tioga (# 2527) An impressive art deco building, the Hotel Tioga was built in 1928. Before and after the war (WWII), it was the place for prominent politicians and entertainers to stay, though it started to decline in the 1980’s. It’s interior has since been remodeled into 70 apartments aimed at professionals and students at nearby UC Merced.

Sources:
<a href="https://californiapreservation.org/awards/tioga/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">californiapreservation.org/awards/tioga/</a>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tioga_Hotel" rel="noreferrer nofollow">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tioga_Hotel</a>

Merced / The Tioga (# 2542) An impressive art deco building, the Hotel Tioga was built in 1928. Before and after the war (WWII), it was the place for prominent politicians and entertainers to stay, though it started to decline in the 1980’s. It’s interior has since been remodeled into 70 apartments aimed at professionals and students at nearby UC Merced.

Sources:
<a href="https://californiapreservation.org/awards/tioga/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">californiapreservation.org/awards/tioga/</a>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tioga_Hotel" rel="noreferrer nofollow">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tioga_Hotel</a>

Merced / Mainzer theater/event space (# 2530) Built in the 1920’s, per the Wikipedia entry, it apparently struggled through a fire in the 1930’s and changes in viewership over the years, and it is now an event space with a stage, cafes, games, and a movie space.

Sources:
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mainzer" rel="noreferrer nofollow">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mainzer</a>
<a href="https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/4405" rel="noreferrer nofollow">cinematreasures.org/theaters/4405</a>
<a href="https://www.themainzer.com" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.themainzer.com</a>

Merced / Merced Theatre (# 2526) Continuing my wandering up CA-99, the next stop was a short exploration of Merced. For as long as I’ve been wandering around California (since 1967), Merced has been referred to as the <u><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merced,_California" rel="noreferrer nofollow">”Gateway to Yosemite”</a></u> and is clearly a good stopping point when exploring Yosemite from various parts of northern California. The moniker, though, suggested ‘tourist town’ to me – which is why this is the first time I’ve spent time trying to understand it!

On the south end of the historic downtown section, there’s the exceptionally well-preserved Merced Theatre. The <u><a href="https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/3389" rel="noreferrer nofollow">Merced Theatre</a></u> opened in 1914 with a 1,658 seat auditorium. Like many theatres of its age, it went through many permutations including dividing it into multiple screens, then a period of closure, and then extensive renovation to bring it back to its original form and operation as theatre for the community. Both the Cinemartreasures and the Foundation websites listed below have interesting pictures showing the history of the theatre:

Sources:
<a href="https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/3389" rel="noreferrer nofollow">cinematreasures.org/theaters/3389</a>
<a href="https://www.mercedtheatre.org/foundation" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.mercedtheatre.org/foundation</a>

Contact CENTRAL CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL

telephone: 2093928264
website: http://b25.net

CENTRAL CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL
5543 MINT RD
DOS PALOS
CA
93620

Disclaimer: please note this database is maintained by volunteers and whilst we endeavour to do our best, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the listing.

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CENTRAL CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL Information

MID #	8400600535
Name	CENTRAL CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL
Alternate Name
Classification	Historical Societies, Historic Preservation, , Western
Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN)
NTEECC
Tax period of the latest return filed (YYYYMM)
INCOME	0
REVENUE	0
LAT/LONG	37.024686, -120.584454
CODES	FIPS State Code: 06 FIPS County Code: 047 US Census Tract: 002401 US Census Block: 1155