El Nido, Merced County, California


El Nido is a census-designated place in Merced County, California. It is located south of Merced at an elevation of, on California State Route 59. The community had a population of 331 at the 2020 census.

History

El Nido was founded early in the 20th century when the development of irrigation enabled intensified farming of the area. El Nido is Spanish for "the nest", and the name is associated with the early Spanish land grant, Rancho Chowchilla. The El Nido School District was created in 1914, and a school building designed by William Bedesen was built in 1915. The El Nido Irrigation District was organized in 1928 and began supplying water for irrigation in 1932. Cotton was the principal crop in the area and a large gin was built there in 1937.
The US Army built the Potter Auxiliary Field to train World War II pilots in El Nido.
The town has a post office, a tavern, a general store, a volunteer fire department, and an elementary school. After grade 8, students from El Nido must attend high school in Merced.
The first post office opened in 1920.
The ZIP Code is 95317. The town is inside area code 209.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 3.3 square miles, all of it land.

Demographics

The 2020 United States census reported that El Nido had a population of 331. The population density was. The racial makeup of El Nido was 77 White, 0 African American, 6 Native American, 4 Asian, 0 Pacific Islander, 197 from other races, and 47 from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 264 persons.
The whole population lived in households. There were 93 households, out of which 46 had children under the age of 18 living in them, 47 were married-couple households, 5 were cohabiting couple households, 16 had a female householder with no partner present, and 25 had a male householder with no partner present. 17 households were one person, and 5 were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.56. There were 73 families.
The age distribution was 99 people under the age of 18, 42 people aged 18 to 24, 110 people aged 25 to 44, 61 people aged 45 to 64, and 19 people who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 29.4years. For every 100 females, there were 108.2 males.
There were 99 housing units at an average density of, of which 93 were occupied. Of these, 50 were owner-occupied, and 43 were occupied by renters.

Government

In the California State Legislature, El Nido is in, and in.
In the United States House of Representatives, El Nido is in.