The town of Knight's Ferry was founded in 1849 by William Knight. He established the first ferry service to cross the Stanislaus River at this location. The crossing was very popular with those heading for the southern mines and the ferry very quickly became highly profitable. William Knight was killed in a shootout on Nov. 9, 1849 after which John and Lewis Dent took over operation of the ferry. In 1854, a bridge spanning the Stanislaus River was built and the ferry terminated operation. Destroyed by a flood in 1862, the old bridge was replaced by the current structure in 1864. At 110 meters (330 feet), it is the longest covered bridge in the western United States.

The main attraction is, of course, the bridge but the townsite also contains a number of preserved buildings from the gold rush days. The water-powered Tulloch Mill, erected by David Tulloch in 1862, stands at one end of town. At the north end of the bridge is the miller's house, a stone fieldhouse built in 1854.

Knight's Ferry is located on Sonora Road 1.5 km north of CA-108, about 20 km east of Oakdale.

The 110-meter covered bridge

The Tulloch Mill, October 1936.
Unknown photographer
(HABS collection, Library of Congress)

The Tulloch Mill, July 2001.

The miller's house, January 1934.
Photograph by Roger Sturtevant
(HABS collection, Library of Congress)

The miller's house, July 2001.