Hopeton is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in Merced County

Merced County, California

Merced County , is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, north of Fresno and southeast of San Jose. As of the 2010 census, the population was 255,793, up from 210,554 at the 2000 census. The county seat is Merced...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. It is located 10.5 miles (17 km) north-northeast of Atwater

Atwater, California

Atwater is a city on U.S. Route 99 in Merced County, California, United States. Atwater is west-northwest of Merced, at an elevation of 151 feet . The population as of the 2010 census was 28,168.-Geography:...

, at an elevation of 184 feet (56 m).

The first name of the place was Forlorn Hope. The Forlorn post office operated from 1854 to 1859, and from 1860 to 1861. The Hopeton post office operated from 1866 to 1894, and from 1911 to 1914.