Town History

Three Rivers: Then
Nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range lies, Three Rivers, which dates back to 1879. The current landscape is fortunately not too differentr from the way it was so many years back. The original community of people, prior to 1879, were the Wuchumna Indian tribe, a band of Yokuts (otherwise known to other Indians as the Kawoohs). During their time of great prosperity, their numbers were close to our current population of 2,600. The lake which resides behind the Western Holiday Lodge hotel is the Lake Kaweah.

The area was named during the application for a postal office, due to the three main rivers: North Fork, South Fork, and Main Fork rivers. There are, however, two others, the Marble Fork and the East Fork. 

South Fork
One road relatively untraveled is the South Fork. Take this 60 to 90 minute twisting, turning drive up to the end of South Fork. Be sure to drive slowly. At the end of this road take a hike up Lady Bug Trail. This is approximately 3 to 4 mile hike doesn't disappoint, especially in the Spring and summertime when the ladybugs in their full regalia literally cover the plants and trees along the river. 

North Fork
On a different day, take a trip up North Fork Drive and visit the Kaweah Post Office. A couple of miles up the road is the Kaweah Post Office, one of the smallest operating postal facilities in the United States today, after more than 100 years the post office. For another taste of Three Rivers history, take North Fork all the way to the end where you'll run into the colony mill road which was built founders of Kaweah Colony, an experimental utopian community established in the 1890's, which at one point this road was used at the main entrance to Sequoia National Park. 

Three Rivers: Now
In ancient Greek mythology. there's a tale about these beautiful Sirens who once lived on a desert island. Whenever sailors at sea would travel by, the sirens would try to bewitch them with a song. There are those who fell prey to the Siren's songs and ended up spending the rest of their lives on the island never making it to their final destination. In some ways, Three Rivers is a lot like the song of the Siren's. There are many tales of people just passing through or who had come up for the weekend who ended up falling in love with the town and never leaving.

Three Rivers is home to an ecclectic mix of artists and craftspeople, shopkeepers, innkeepers, small-business professionals, retirees, commuters, ranchers and farmers.  


For more information on the History of Three Rivers visit: http://www.kaweahcommonwealth.com/threeriversinfo.html