Topaz War Relocation Center - Delta, Ut
N 39° 25.082 W 112° 46.763
12S E 346826 N 4364678
The Topaz War Relocation Center, also known as the Central Utah Relocation Center (Topaz), was a camp which housed Nikkei -- Americans of Japanese descent and immigrants who had come to the United States from Japan.
Waymark Code: WM8ACR
Location: Utah, United States
Date Posted: 02/28/2010
Views: 26
The camp consisted of 19,800 acres (8,012.8 ha), nearly four times the size of the more famous Manzanar War Relocation Center in California. Most Topaz internees lived in the central residential area located approximately 15 miles (24.1 km) west of Delta, Utah, though some lived as caretakers overseeing agricultural land and areas used for light industry and animal husbandry.
Following American entry into World War II, approximately 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent and Japanese-born residents of the West Coast of the United States were forced to leave their homes in California, Oregon and Washington as a result of Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin Roosevelt.
About 10,000 left the off-limits area during the "voluntary evacuation" period, and avoided internment.
The remaining 110,000 were soon removed from their homes by Army and National Guard troops. First housed in places such as racetrack stables, eventually they were moved to various camps, hundreds or even thousands of miles from home.
Topaz was the primary internment site in the state of Utah. A smaller camp existed briefly at Dalton Wells, a few miles north of Moab, which was used to isolate a few men considered to be troublemakers prior to their being sent to Leupp, AZ. A site at Antelope Springs, in the mountains west of Topaz, was used as a recreation area by the residents and staff of Topaz.
Topaz was originally known as the Central Utah Relocation Center, but this name was abandoned when administrators realized that the acronym was naturally pronounced "Curse." The camp was then briefly named for the closest settlement, until nearby Mormon residents (with their own heritage of forced relocation) demanded that their town name not be associated with a "prison for the innocent." The final name, Topaz, came from a mountain which overlooks the camp from 9 miles (14.5 km) away.
Utah governor Herbert B. Maw opposed the relocation of any Japanese Americans into the state, stating that if they were such a danger to the West Coast, they would be a danger to Utah (the only governor who did not oppose bringing the Japanese Americans to his state was Colorado governor Ralph Carr).
Topaz was opened September 11, 1942, and eventually became the fifth-largest city in Utah, with over 9,000 internees and staff, and covering approximately 31 square miles (80.3 km2) (mostly used for agriculture). It was closed on October 31, 1945.
Most of the internees lived in a central living area, which covered approximately one mile square.
All text for this waymark was copied from Wikipedia.
Visit Instructions:
Please post an origional photo of the site. New features not show in the other find logs are encouraged. Feel free to add any information not provided in the waymark listing. If you or your family has any personal knowledge of the site, please feel free to share.