Fort San Bernardino
United States · Americas
About
Fort San Bernardino (also known as the Mormon Stockade) was a frontier fortification in present-day San Bernardino, California. The fort was constructed in 1851 by Mormon pioneers following their purchase of the Rancho San Bernardino land grant.
Fearing attacks against settlers by the Indigenous peoples of California, the Mormons constructed the large protective stockade soon after they completed the purchase of the rancho. When the threat of attack subsided, the settlers laid out the townsite of San Bernardino and began to move onto the city lots, abandoning the fort. In 1857, the Utah War resulted in most Mormons leaving the San Bernardino Colony for the Utah Territory.
Today, nothing remains of the fort structure, with the San Bernardino County Court House sitting atop its former location. Several markers on the site memorialize both the fort and the Mormon settlement. The site was listed as a California Historical Landmark (No. 44) in 1932.
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.