Pinedale is a previously

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Fresno County Fresno County (), officially the County of Fresno, is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 1,008,654. The county seat is Fresno, the fifth-most populous city in Cali ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It lies at an elevation of 348 feet (106 m). It was once a rural community located on the

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

north-northwest of Clovis but has since become surrounded and annexed by the city of Fresno. Millerton Lake State Recreational Area is to its NE. The ZIP Code is 93650, and the community is inside

area code 559 Area code 559 is a California telephone area code that was split from area code 209 on November 14, 1998. It covers the central San Joaquin Valley in central California, serving the counties of Fresno, Madera, Kings, and Tulare—an area large ...

. The first post office in Pinedale opened in 1923.

Pinedale Assembly Center

The community was the site of one of several temporary detention camps (also known as 'assembly centers') located throughout the

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

that represented the first phase of the mass incarceration of 97,785 Californians of Japanese ancestry during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Pursuant to

Executive Order 9066 Executive Order 9066 was a United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. This order authorized the secretary of war to prescribe certain ...

signed by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

on February 19, 1942, thirteen makeshift detention facilities were constructed at various California racetracks, fairgrounds, and labor camps. These facilities were intended to confine

Japanese Americans are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...

until more permanent internment camps, such as those at

Manzanar Manzanar is the site of one of ten American concentration camps, where more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II from March 1942 to November 1945. Although it had over 10,000 inmates at its peak, it was one o ...

and

Tule Lake Tule Lake ( ) is an intermittent lake covering an area of , long and across, in northeastern Siskiyou County and northwestern Modoc County in California, along the border with Oregon. Geography Tule Lake is fed by the Lost River. The elevat ...

in California, could be built in isolated areas of the country. Beginning on March 30, 1942, all native-born Americans and long-time legal residents of Japanese ancestry living in California were ordered to surrender themselves for detention. Known as "Camp Pinedale" the assembly center was located six miles (10 km) north of downtown Fresno on vacant land near an existing mill-workers housing area. The area is now within the Fresno city limits, north of Herndon Avenue and one mile (1.6 km) west of

Blackstone Avenue Blackstone Avenue is a major roadway arterial in Fresno, California, United States, running from Stanislaus and O Streets near Downtown to Highway 41 northeastern part of the city. This street is the location of a number of historic structures an ...

. The

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

officially acquired the site on 24 March 1942. At the time of acquisition there were 21 warehouses and 11 other buildings which had been used to store cotton, sugar, and machinery. From 7 May to 23 July 1942, the Pinedale Assembly Center housed a total of 4,823 evacuees, with a maximum of 4,792 at a time. The evacuees were from Sacramento and El Dorado counties, and Oregon and Washington. Ten barracks blocks, each with 26 buildings, were constructed for the evacuees, and a separate block was built for the military police and administration. Also at the camp was the 840th Army Air Forces Specialized Depot. There is an historical marker just east of Blackstone Avenue on the site of the railroad stop where the Japanese were brought to Fresno. The tracks have been removed, and there is now a bike trail in their place. The granite maker is on the side of the trail below the Freeway 41 overpass on Nees Avenue. At present, some of the original buildings from that era are still standing and a memorial is planned to be unveiled.

Education

Fresno County Public Library The Fresno County Public Library provides books, ebooks, music, movies, magazines, newspapers, reference assistance, wireless Internet access and a variety of other services at its 35 locations throughout Fresno County, California. The library syst ...

operates the Pinedale Branch Library.Pinedale Branch Library
"

. Retrieved on June 27, 2010.

Clovis Unified School District Clovis Unified School District is a public school system located in Clovis, California, with its headquarters located at 1450, Herndon Avenue, Clovis. Its 43 schools serve a student population of nearly 40,000 students in a geographic area cov ...

serves the Pinedale Community. CUSD's Pinedale Elementary School, Nelson Elementary School, Kastner Intermediate School and Clovis West High School operate in the Pinedale Area

References

External links

Pinedale Memorial website
{{authority control Neighborhoods in Fresno, California

Pinedale Assembly Center

Education

See also

References

External links