During World War II, two camps were established in Fresno: the Fresno Assembly Center and Pinedale Assembly Center.

The Fresno Assembly Center, which was at the Fresno Fairgrounds, housed Nikkei from Central California. A monument was dedicated at the site on February 19, 1992, the fiftieth anniversary of Executive Order No. 9066.  The Order was the basis for General John L. DeWitt, Commander of the Western Defense Command, to forcibly exclude over 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast and detain them for nearly three years during the War. 

Over 70,000 were American citizens born in the U.S.  They were detained without charges or trial.  The basis of the detention was so-called “military necessity” to prevent espionage and sabotage.  Yet not one Japanese American was ever charged let alone convicted of espionage or sabotage in the five months prior to internment or in Hawaii or the interior of the mainland during the War.

Pinedale remained in obscurity because the 4,823 internees were from out of the area — Amador and Sacramento counties as well as Oregon and Washington.

After the temporary incarceration in Pinedale for three months in 1942, internees were sent to permanent internment camps such as Tule Lake in Northern California and Poston in Arizona.

In 2005, it was brought to the attention of the Fresno Japanese American community that a developer had applied for a demolition permit for an old building in Pinedale in the vicinity of the assembly center.  The developer desired to develop the 32-acre site into  a modern commercial  office center.  Building No. 8 was the last remaining building of the +500 acre site of the Sugar Pine Lumber Company, which established the community of Pinedale.   The site was acquired by the U.S. government during the war and used as the Pinedale Assembly Center and Camp Pinedale, a military base for training soldiers and storing supplies.  Japanese American soldiers were eventually stationed at Camp Pinedale,  even though their families and friends of Japanese ancestry were not allowed to live in their long-time homes or visit the area.

The Central California District Council of the  Japanese American Citizens League and the Central California Nikkei Foundation formed the Pinedale Assembly Center Memorial Project Committee under the able leadership of Judge Dale Ikeda, who had led a similar project for the Fresno Assembly Center fifteen years before.

Encouraged by the Fresno City Council and city government officials, an agreement was reached with the developer who owned the property. On Nov. 28, 2006, the City Council approved designation of Remembrance Plaza to the Local Register of Historic Resources. The council also approved the rezoning application, including the site plan for Remembrance Plaza.

California Registered Historical LandmarkNo. 934 was dedicated at the site as part of a groundbreaking ceremony.  The ceremony was held on February 19, 2007, the 65th anniversary of Executive Order No. 9066.  The House of Representatives passed House Resolution Nos.  109 and 122, recognizing the 65th anniversary of Executive Order No. 9066 and the historical significance of the Pinedale Assembly Center.  Resolution No. 109 also supported the creation of  an appropriate memorial at the site.