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Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, led the U.S. into World War II and radically changed the lives of men, women, and children of Japanese ancestry living in the U.S. Forced to leave their homes, Japanese American citizens and resident aliens were incarcerated in 10 war relocation centers in remote locations throughout the country. One of these, Tule Lake in California, was the longest occupied and most repressive of all the government's centers.

Tule Lake National Monument Visitor Center

The Camp was first built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1935, but later housed Japanese Americans in 1943 then German Prisoners of War from 1944 - 1946. It is located on Hill Road approximately two miles north of the Klamath Basin Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center. Visitors may only enter the grounds as part of a ranger guided program. You are welcome to take pictures of the buildings and view the road side exhibits from outside the fence.

California Historical Landmark 850-2: Tule Lake Relocation Center, Tule Lake Segregation Center

The Tule Lake Segregation Center was the only one of the ten War Relocation Centers to be converted into a maximum security segregation center and add a stockade and jail to the grounds.

The Peninsula/Castle Rock was within the boundary of the historic Tule Lake Segregation Center. Originally an island in Tule Lake, it contains an 800-foot bluff called Castle Rock. Atop Castle Rock is a replica of the cross that was placed there by Nikkei incarcerated at Tule Lake before it became a segregation center. The Peninsula is managed primarily for raptor and wildlife habitat. It is closed to public access.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 giving the War Department authority to create zones from which Japanese Americans were excluded. The first exclusion area designated was Bainbridge Island. On March 30, 1942 the Japanese Americans living on Bainbridge Island were gathered at Eagledale Ferry Dock and sent to an incarceration camp in Manzanar, CA before being tranferred to Minidoka in Idaho.

The Maritime Washington National Heritage Area tells a nationally important story of maritime heritage, from Native American canoe cultures to industrial working waterfronts, that shaped western Washington and contributes today to our development as a nation.

Merritt Park was the largest public park created at Manzanar by the Japanese Americans incarcerated here.

Manzanar's orchard trees are about one hundred years old and are part of the historic landscape.

Learn about the Manzanar Auditorium that now acts as the Manzanar National Historic Site Visitor Center.

In each block, two latrines—one for women and one for men—served about 300 people. Women’s latrines had ten toilets, men’s had eight and a urinal. Francis Kikuchi recalled, “The pots were sitting right next to each other . . . if you're going, you're sitting there rubbing elbows."

Learn about the Manzanar Hospital and how patients were cared for behind barbed wire.

Learn about Block 34 Mess Hall Garden

Each of the 36 blocks had recreation halls—a barracks on the southwest corner of the block that was not used for living space. Recreation halls served as libraries, churches, classrooms, and places to learn arts and music or hold club meetings; one hall even served as Manzanar’s museum.

The War Relocation Authority (WRA) paid Japanese Americans to build ironing rooms near the laundry rooms in each block. They completed construction in early July 1942, yet by August Tanaka noted, “Still unused for their original purpose are the ironing rooms on each block.”