Building Amache

Contractor's construction crews assembling the roof structure on a typical barracks unit in August, 1942.

National Archives

Construction of Amache began on June 12, 1942, using a huge workforce of nearly a thousand people, including incarcerees who left the temporary detention centers early to assist in this effort. When trainloads of people began arriving from Merced and Santa Anita in late August, only 90% of the camp’s infrastructure, such as the sewer system and electrical systems, were completed and only 12 blocks had complete and functioning latrines. Because many of the buildings were hastily built, there were often gaps between the insulation board walls and the wooden frames of the barracks, allowing the dust, cold, heat, and insects to easily infiltrate incarcerees’ living spaces.

The central developed area was surrounded by barbed wire and eight guard towers stationed around the perimeter of the camp, which were initially staffed by armed military personnel. The central area held a total of 556 buildings and was divided into an administrative support area, which contained the administrative offices; the staff housing area; the military police compound; the motor pool and support area; the warehouse area; the hospital area; and the residential living area. Organized much like a military camp, Amache, as well as many of the other incarceration camps, was organized on a grid system. Dirt roads running east-west were consecutively numbered, beginning on the north side of the project area starting with 1st Street and ending at 12th Street. The north-south roads were designated with letters and started with E Street on the west side of the area, moving consecutively through the alphabet, skipping the letters “I” and “J” to end with L Street on the eastern edge of the project area.

The 1-square-mile residential living area was surrounded by additional barbed wire and separated from the administrative area by an open strip of land. The residential area contained 27 residential blocks that housed incarcerees in military-style barracks. Each block was named using a number and a letter that corresponded to the northwest street corner of the block. All the blocks followed a standard layout, consisting of 12 residential barracks measuring 20 feet by 120 feet, a mess hall, a latrine that included a laundry facility, and a recreation hall. The barracks were each divided into six individual living units; two units measured 16 feet by 20 feet, two measured 20 feet by 20 feet, and two measured 24 feet by 20 feet.

Couples without children or families with only one child were given the smallest of these units, while larger families occupied the 24 feet by 20 feet end units. Each unit came only with a coal-burning pot belly stove, cots, a bare light bulb hanging from the ceiling, and one electrical outlet.