Merced County Fairgrounds

The Merced Assembly Center, located at 37.2914°N 120.4850°W / 37.2914; -120.4850 in Merced, California, was one of sixteen temporary assembly centers hastily constructed in the wake of Executive Order 9066 to incarcerate those of Japanese ancestry beginning in the spring of 1942, following the attack on Pearl Harbor and prior to the construction of more permanent concentration camps to house those forcibly removed from the West Coast. The Merced Assembly Center was located at the Merced County Fairgrounds and operated for 133 days, from May 6, 1942 to September 15, 1942, with a peak population of 4,508. 4,669 Japanese Americans were ultimately incarcerated at the Merced Assembly Center.

Merced (; Spanish for "Mercy") is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California, United States, in the San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 86,333, up from 78,958 in 2010. Incorporated on April 1, 1889, Merced is a charter city that operates under a council–manager government. It is named after the Merced River, which flows nearby. Merced, known as the "Gateway to Yosemite", is less than two hours by automobile from Yosemite National Park to the east and Monterey Bay, the Pacific Ocean, and multiple beaches to the west. The community is served by the passenger rail service Amtrak, a minor, heavily subsidized airline through Merced Regional Airport, and three bus lines. It is approximately 110 miles (180 km) from Sacramento, 130 miles (210 km) from San Francisco, 55 miles (89 km) from Fresno, and 270 miles (430 km) from Los Angeles. In 2005, the city became home to the 10th University of California campus, University of California, Merced (UC Merced), the first research university built in the U.S. in the 21st century.

Merced station is a proposed California High-Speed Rail station in Merced, California, located in Downtown Merced. The environmentally approved site is on Martin Luther King Jr. Way near the interchange with Route 99/59, placing it about 7 blocks south from the existing Merced Amtrak station. The station was initially intended to be the northern terminus of the system's Initial Construction Segment. As of April 2022 the California High-Speed Rail Authority is studying an alternative location proposed by the City of Merced and other stakeholders, 8 blocks to the west-northwest along 15th Street, between O Street and R Street. The high-speed rail line will run on the south side of the Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way at these locations.The station is north of the planned Chowchilla Wye, where the high-speed rail splits into two branches. Merced is on the eastern branch, which at the conclusion of Phase II will continue northwards to Sacramento.

The Merced Theatre is located at 301 W. Main Street, at the corner of Main Street and Martin Luther King Way, in Merced, California. The theatre is significant both for its role as the social and cultural center of Merced from the Depression through the post World War II era and for its mix of Art Deco and Spanish Colonial Revival architecture. The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on May 1, 2009 and the listing was announced as the featured listing in the National Park Service's weekly list of June 5, 2009. The Golden State Theatre Company hired San Francisco architects the Reid Brothers to design the Merced Theatre. Another notable building they designed is the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, California. They used what was at the time the most modern projection and sound technology, and the theatre was only the second building in Merced to have an air conditioning system. Their use of dramatic atmospheric features included castle facades and ventilators that sent "clouds" floating across the star-bespeckled ceiling.Builder Gian Battista Pasqualetti used steel from the Golden Gate Iron Works, ornamental iron from the San Jose Iron Works, and ornamental tiles from the Hispano Maresque Tile Company in Los Angeles to construct the Reid Brothers design for the multi-level, white stucco coated steel framed reinforced concrete building. A 100-foot (30 m) high tower rises above the marquee, and the orange neon block letters proclaiming MERCED can be seen for miles.The lobby includes a mural of Spanish exploration done by Dutch-born artist Antoon Bonaventure Heinsbergen. Original furnishings include Spanish style wooden sofas and chairs. The theatre originally seated 1,645 for filmed and live performances. For a time the Merced Theatre was part of the United Artist chain of theatres. In the early 1980s the theatre was divided into 4 sections cutting off the entire balcony section from the main theater and splitting both. Over time the theater has suffered some wear and tear, but received a full restoration near to its original single full stage and screen design and currently has a full season of touring shows and films.

The Bank of Italy is a historic bank building located at the intersection of Main and Canal Streets in Merced, California. Opened in 1928, the bank was Merced's branch of the Bank of Italy. Henry A. Minton designed the building in the Classical Revival style. The bank's design includes a flat, clay tile roof with terra cotta mansards and an ornamental cornice and frieze. Five Corinthian columns are situated on the building's Main Street facade, and seven pilasters face Canal Street. The first and second floors of the bank are separated by a decorative band of panels; the band features alternating square panels displaying an Indian head or an eagle separated by rectangular panels with a diamond design. The building's exterior is mostly faced in Travertine marble; the base is faced in granite, and parts of the first floor were covered with stucco in the 1950s.The building is known locally as the "Mondo Building." From 2004 through 2019 the building was leased to UC Merced as administrative office space. In 2019, the building was purchased by the Merced County Office of Education, which currently uses the building as a conference, event, meeting, and office space.

The Tioga Hotel is a historic hotel building located at 1715 N St. in Merced, California. Built in 1928, the hotel is the largest building in Merced. The hotel's architecture reflects the transitional design common in 1920s hotels, which were moving away from the Classical Revival designs used in hotels in the past. In addition, the building boasted Merced's first neon sign. The Tioga Hotel was a grand hotel which hosted prominent guests, including Eleanor Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Mary Pickford, and various foreign royalty. During World War II, the hotel played a role in the war effort; the U.S. Air Force used a floor of the building for offices, and various organizations held wartime fundraisers in its lobby and ballrooms. After the war, manager Gyle Miller returned the hotel to its former prominence; in the following decades, the hotel hosted film stars and served as a center for agricultural trade. The rise of automobile travel ultimately led to the hotel's decline, and it was converted to a residential apartment building.The Tioga Hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 3, 1980. In 2011, financial discrepancies were discovered resulting in a discovery of an embezzlement operation and the arrest of the property manager, James M. Hiestand. As of 2018, The Tioga has taken on new management, GSF Properties, Inc., in order to bring life back to the community. A $15 million renovation project began that transformed the building back into the hotel it once was. It is now a mission of GSF's to ensure The Tioga's guest feel safe, taken care of, and proud to call The Tioga their home, as well as to bring this historic site back to the eyes of the community, in hopes this massive renovation helps to fuel the major transformation of Downtown Merced and its surrounding communities.

The Mainzer (pronounced MINE-Zer), also known as The Mainzer Theater or The Mainzer-Strand Theater, is a music venue in Merced, California once known for its indie rock scene. It is also recognized by the Art Deco Society of California for the restoring and remodeling process which took place beginning in 1999.

The Bell Station, also known as the Federal Building, is a U.S. post office located at 401 W. 18th St. in Merced, California. The post office was built in 1933 as part of a public works program started by Herbert Hoover. The building was designed by Los Angeles architects Allison & Allison in the Mediterranean Revival style; its design includes a tile roof, stucco walls, and arched windows with terra cotta surrounds. The building's use of Mediterranean elements in an unadorned design reflected the notion of "starved classicism" used in many of Hoover's public works projects; this form of design used themes from classical styles in the plain manner of the Art Deco and Moderne styles. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the U.S. Post Office on February 10, 1983.

The Thomas H. Leggett House is a historic house located at 346 W. 21st St. in Merced, California. Built circa 1890, the house is designed in the Queen Anne style and also features elements of the Stick and Eastlake style. The front and west sides of the house feature decorative projecting gables; a frieze decorated with quarter sunbursts lies below the gables. The roof is topped by a widow's walk with a decorative iron railing. Thomas H. Leggett, a Merced County law officer and Merced postmaster, built and owned the house.The Thomas H. Leggett House was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 8, 1982. The Leggett House, another home in Merced owned by Leggett, is also on the National Register.

The Merced County Courthouse is the historic county courthouse in Merced County, California. Located at the intersection of W. 21st and N Streets in Merced, the building served as Merced County's courthouse from 1875 until 1975. A. A. Bennett, an architect who also worked on the California State Capitol, designed the building. The building's Italian Renaissance design was styled to resemble a palazzo; it features a white plaster exterior, a portico with a balcony on the south side, and a cupola atop the roof. A nearly identical courthouse was built in Fresno County at the same time; this building was modified extensively and later demolished, leaving the Merced County Courthouse as the only remaining example of its design. The building's architecture is unique within the southern Central Valley; in its National Register nomination, the courthouse was called "the best example of the Italian Renaissance revival remaining between Sacramento and Los Angeles".The building is now a museum of local history known as the Merced County Courthouse Museum that is operated by the Merced County Historical Society. Exhibits include the Superior Courtroom, a historic schoolroom and blacksmith shop. The Merced County Courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 29, 1975.

The Maj. George Beecher Cook House is a historic house located at 356 W. 21st St. in Merced, California. Built c. 1887, the house was designed in the Queen Anne style; it is considered one of the best examples of the style in Merced. The house's asymmetrical design features a cylindrical tower, open porches in the front and back, and a 7-sided bay on the west side. The roof of the house includes many different designs; the main roof pattern is a gable roof from the front to the back, but the roof also has a pyramidal section in the center, a cross gable on the east side, hipped dormers, and a cone-shaped roof on the tower. The house uses horizontal siding on its first floor and patterned shingle siding on its upper floors.Major George Beecher Cook, a mayor of Merced and local merchant, lived in the house until his death in 1898. The house was later used as a sanitarium and boarding house until 1943, when Alfred Green and his wife bought the property. The Greens converted the house to a guest house, which they named "The Greenbrier" for their last name and Mrs. Green's maiden name, Brier.The Maj. George Beecher Cook House was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 15, 1983.

Merced County High School, also known as the County Library Building, is a historic building located at 2125 M St. in Merced, California, United States. Built in 1897, the school was the first public high school in Merced County. The brick and wood building was designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style and featured a hip roof with cross gables, a rounded entry, windows arranged in a ribbon patter, and a since-removed wooden tower. The school's brick exterior was later plastered over and its roof painted red, giving the building a Mission Revival appearance. The building served as a high school until 1920; in the following year, the county library moved into the building, where it remained until 1976.Merced County High School was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 31, 1984.