Millerton, Madera County, California

For the nearby place formerly with this name, see Fort Miller, California.

Millerton was the original county seat of Fresno County, formed in 1856. The county was much larger than it is today, comprising its current area plus all of what became Madera County and parts of what are now San Benito, Tulare, Kings, Inyo, and Mono counties.

Millerton, then on the banks of the free-flowing San Joaquin River and close to Fort Miller, became the county seat after becoming a focal point for settlers. The San Joaquin River flooded on Christmas Eve, 1867, inundating Millerton. Some residents rebuilt, others moved.

In 1872, the Central Pacific Railroad established a station for its new Southern Pacific line near a farm bounded by the present Chestnut, Belmont, Clovis and California avenues, owned by Anthony Easterby. Soon there was a store. Around the station and the store grew the town of Fresno Station, later called Fresno. Many Millerton residents, drawn by the convenience of the railroad and worried about flooding, moved to the new community.

Two years after the station was established, in 1874, county residents voted to move the county seat from Millerton to Fresno. The vote totals are Fresno 417; Lisbon 124; Centerville 123; Millerton 93. Millerton would become abandoned as a result.

When the Friant Dam was completed in 1944, the site of Millerton became inundated by the waters of Millerton Lake. In extreme droughts, when the reservoir shrinks, ruins of the original county seat can still be observed.

The ZIP Code is 93623. The community is inside area code 559.

References

• Bulbulian, Berge; Shekoyan, Elish (2000). The Fresno Armenians: history of a diaspora community. Fresno, California: The Press at California State University. pp. 15–16. ISBN 0912201355. http://books.google.com/books?id=mRV2AAAAMAAJ&pgis=1. Retrieved 2009-06-03. 
• Hildegarde, Hawthorne (2007). The Fresno Armenians: history of a diaspora community. Read Books. pp. 391–392. ISBN 140676776X. http://books.google.com/books?id=LRhw0pB7Q2gC. Retrieved 2009-06-03.