Feb. 7--It marks the end of an era for both County and the county.

Merced's biggest bank and its only publicly traded company has folded.

State regulators said late Friday they are closing County Bank. All its offices will reopen either today or Monday as branches of San Rafael-based Westamerica Bank.

County Bank, owned until yesterday by the one-bank holding company, Capital Corp of the West, becomes the latest -- and biggest -- local casualty of the credit crunch, foreclosure crisis and septic recession choking the national, state and county economies.

A community hallmark since 1977, County Bank had battled gamely for months to remain "a going concern," in the sterile language of federal regulators. But a $96 million loss last year, caused in part by the collapse of the San Joaquin Valley property market, restricted its ability to recover on its own.

County Bank may have been more prudent than many banks in not issuing many subprime loans, but its own collateral was corroded by plummeting property values in its portfolio.

Last week, that depleted capitalization led the bank to issue an after-markets news release questioning whether it could remain solvent.

Last night, as dozens of Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) officers in suits and pulling roller briefcases poured into the bank's Merced branches, that question was answered.

Their presence, however humbling to dazed bank employees, represented reassurance to depositors.

Regulators are promising a smooth handover: County Bank customers will automatically become customers of Westamerica. Their deposits will remain insured by the FDIC. They can access their money in all the same ways they could before the takeover. Loan customers should make payments as usual. Bank branches with Saturday hours will be open today.

County Bank's stockholders won't get off so easily. The bank's closure means its shares are now worthless.

For County Bank's 500 employees, about 150 of whom live in the Merced area, the takeover's consequences aren't yet clear. From top managers down, some workers will probably lose their jobs, while others may be offered employment with Westamerica.

The news makes County Bank the ninth bank to fail in the U.S. this year and the third in California. It's hard to say exactly how widespread the effects of its collapse will be, but they're certain to hit Merced hard.

Before Friday night, County Bank was by far the biggest financial institution in Merced, with $1.3 billion in deposits across its 39 branches. Westamerica has agreed to buy all the bank's assets.