Chiriaco Summit, CA
The General Patton Memorial Museum was built to inspire such reverence through exposure and education. Quality of life for each visitor is directly tied to the health of this nation and we strive to ensure each visitor leaves the museum with a renewed understanding of that. We are committed to providing a place to learn about preserving the past and ensuring the lessons it teaches us are carried to future generations.
The name General Patton was selected because he had actually handpicked the site and was the first commander of the DTC with Camp Young as the headquarters for the Desert Training Center, eventually training over a million men to go into the WWII effort. This became the world’s largest military installation both in size and population stretching from Arizona to Nevada to California. Leslie continues to work for the BLM and resides now in Colorado, and Margit lives at Chiriaco Summit and continues to serve as an active supporter of the museum.
The first year was spent creating a 501(c)3 and forming an MOU with Bureau of Land Management which continues today. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) had a mobile home that became the first office and repository for information and artifacts. Senator Presley helped the Museum to obtain the old Coachella DMV office which was moved to the site at Chiriaco Summit. The land was donated by Joseph L. Chiriaco and Ruth E. Chiriaco, pioneers of the area. In 1986 five more modules were purchased creating a 7000-square foot area to serve as the museum building. Construction began in earnest in 1987 with a solid team of retirees from SCE headed by Jerry Rusche. This group of men worked long and hard creating the interior spaces of the museum, cleaning up and modifying the spaces, installing new electrical, refrigeration, heating and everything else that went into the interior space, as well as overseeing the exterior plastering of the building. The rock was donated by the Whitewater Rock and the Sea Bees were the volunteers, who installed the rock walls one summer.
The foundations were constructed and donated by Modern Alloy. The engineering for the facility was donated by the firm of Krieger and Stewart, and the legal work was done by Joe Aklufi. Corky Larson, Riverside County Supervisor also played an important role in the project. The first really professional exhibit was the MWD topographical map – the map shows the vast regions of Southern California where the massive aqueduct was installed bringing the much needed water to Los Angeles.
The availability of water to the DTC is the main reason that Patton selected the area for the DTC and placed the camps accordingly. This is aside from the fact that this desert area so mimicked the areas of North Africa and he could train the men in these harsh conditions preparing them for their eventual service in the war.
During the building process, personalized engraved bricks were sold to finance parts of the project that just could not be donated. Today there is a large wall area covered with bricks, both large and small which are still being sold and installed. Over time, the building was beginning to look more like the General Patton Memorial Museum. This transformation took many hours of volunteer service. The Museum was ready to open on November 11,1988 at 11 in the morning, coincidentally Patton’s one hundredth birthday.
Patton MuseumOur Mission
The mission of the General Patton Memorial Museum is to promote peace by honoring the service and sacrifice of America’s veterans while educating the public on modern U.S. military history through the preservation and interpretation of artifacts from the major conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Patton Museum"Preserving the Peace through the Lessons of the Past"
Thanks General Patton Memorial Museum!
