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Friant in Fresno County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)
 

Erected to the Memory of the Pioneers of the Millerton Area Whose Remains Rest Here

Winchell Cove Cemetery

 
 
Erected to the Memory of the Pioneers of the Millerton Area Whose Remains Rest Here Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Lester J Letson, October 28, 2010
1. Erected to the Memory of the Pioneers of the Millerton Area Whose Remains Rest Here Marker
Inscription. The site of Fort Miller (1851-1866) lies about one mile north and that of the pioneer town of Millerton (1851-1874) about one and one-half miles northwest on the then Visalia - Stockton Road. Both sites are now covered by the waters of Millerton Lake.

The first courthouse of Fresno County was constructed in 1887 in the town of Millerton and the first public school in Fresno County was opened in the hospital building at Fort Miller in 1860.

The granite blocks forming this monument were part of the old courthouse.
 
Erected 1942 by United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial SitesForts and CastlesSettlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1887.
 
Location. 36° 59.833′ N, 119° 39.517′ W. Marker is in Friant, California, in Fresno County. Marker can be reached from Winchell Cove Road. 19305 Winchell Cove Road is the office for Winchell Cove. If you stand in front of the office and look Northeast across Winchell Cove, you can just make out the gate of the Winchell Cove Cemetery. The Marker sits behind the locked gates of the cemetery. There is a half mile long walking trail that leads to the
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marker and the cemetery. Winchell Cove Road is a few miles east of the town of Friant off Millerton Road. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 19305 Winchell Cove Road, Friant CA 93626, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 13 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Millerton (approx. 2.2 miles away); Hildreth Stage Robbery (approx. 7.9 miles away); Spring Valley School (approx. 8.9 miles away); Fort Washington (approx. 9˝ miles away); Academy Methodist Church (approx. 9.9 miles away); Academy (approx. 10.1 miles away); Tarpey Depot (approx. 12.1 miles away); Clovis Veterans Memorial (approx. 12.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Friant.
 
More about this marker. Located just above the high water mark so that those now resting here will never be disturbed again. One pioneer grave rested by itself at this location for many years before the two small cemeteries in the town of Millerton and the cemetery at the fort had all of the unclaimed remains moved to this location.
 
Regarding Erected to the Memory of the Pioneers of the Millerton Area Whose Remains Rest Here. The Pioneers of Fresno County lived and died at Millerton and Fort Miller. When the county seat moved to Fresno California in 1875, all of the businesses in town picked up and moved to Fresno leaving nothing but a few farms
Pioneers of the Millerton Area Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Lester J Letson, October 28, 2010
2. Pioneers of the Millerton Area Marker
The granite used in this monument came from the Millerton Courthouse.
and abandoned buildings in the area, along with the cemeteries of those that died here. When a dam (Friant Dam) was proposed to control the San Joaquin River, an attempt was made to locate relatives of those buried at Millerton. Those bodies that remained unclaimed were moved to the Winchell Cove site. Many of the unidentified bodies now at the Winchell Cove cemetery site are believed to be soldiers that died at Fort Miller.
 
Also see . . .  Fort Miller. The California State Military Museum offers a history of the fort. (Submitted on September 19, 2011.) 
 
Winchell Cove Cemetery Gates image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Lester J Letson, October 28, 2010
3. Winchell Cove Cemetery Gates
The brass marker sits on the granite spire located behind these cemetery gates. From 1942 to May of 2008, the cemetery remained lost to all but a few that knew of its existence. Nicholas Russell chose this cemetery as his Eagle Scout project and arranged for the gates and fence that now surround the cemetery.
Fort Miller image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Robert W. Kerrigan, Photographer, circa 1934
4. Fort Miller
Library of Congress, Historical American Buildings Survey
HABS CAL,10-MILL,1-
Fort Miller Hospital - Site of First School in Fresno County image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Robert W. Kerrigan, Photographer, circa 1934
5. Fort Miller Hospital - Site of First School in Fresno County
Library of Congress, Historical American Building Survey
HABS CAL,10-MILL,1C-
Winchell Cove image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Lester J Letson, October 28, 2010
6. Winchell Cove
In the distance, below the waters of Millerton Lake sit the ruins of the pioneer town of Millerton and the earliest fort in Fresno County, Fort Miller.
Millerton Blockhouse image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Lester J Letson, circa 1996
7. Millerton Blockhouse
Constructed of rough hewn timbers with numerous gun ports, the blockhouse was built to withstand attacks while giving riflemen the ability to shoot at the attackers from the safety within its thick walls. The blockhouse was deconstructed and moved to Roeding Park in Fresno, CA where it was reconstructed and sat for several decades before the city of Fresno gave the blockhouse to the Table Mountain Rancheria tribe. The blockhouse was deconstucted again and reconstructed on reservation property overlooking Millerton Lake.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on March 15, 2017. It was originally submitted on September 17, 2011, by Lester J Letson of Fresno, California. This page has been viewed 2,064 times since then and 68 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3. submitted on September 17, 2011, by Lester J Letson of Fresno, California.   4, 5. submitted on September 19, 2011.   6. submitted on September 17, 2011, by Lester J Letson of Fresno, California.   7. submitted on February 4, 2012, by Lester J Letson of Fresno, California. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 28, 2024