Chapter 5: Mineral Resources and Metropolitan Growth

As mentioned before, the discovery of mineral deposits in the Merced River increased the cities population. Gold is the only mineral resource known in Merced county. Merced does not overlap any gas, coal, or oil deposits. With the discovery of gold came the establishing of the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific Railroads.

http://www.spcrr.org/HistorySPCRR.htm

The Southern Pacific Railroad system ran from North to South through Merced. This resulted in many people deserting small gold mining towns that were established along the Merced River and flocking to towns such as Merced, Turlock, and Fresno which are all located in the Central Valley. The cause of this was because of the rail road system. Metropolitan growth flourished around this particular transportation system. Merced is known as the "gateway to Yosemite" so many locals traveled to Yosemite to continue their search for the precious metal.The building of this rail road system also lead to the transportation of goods from the San Francisco bay, to the Gulf of Mexico and vice versa.