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Part of internment camp up for historical status
Published Friday April 22, 2005
By LEE JUILLERAT
A small portion of the former Tule Lake Segregation Center, where Japanese Americans were held during World War II, has been recommended for designation as a National Historical Landmark.
Members of the Landmarks Committee of the National Park System Advisory Board, which met in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, unanimously voted to recommend that Interior Secretary Gail Norton designate 46 acres. The camp was located six miles south of Tulelake near present-day Newell.
The 46 acres are owned by the California Department of Transportation and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and does not include any private property.
The original proposal discussed at two public meetings in Newell earlier this year was for 91 acres and included private land, mostly in what is known as the Flying Goose subdivision.
Acreage for the National Historical Landmark proposal was scaled back to eliminate private lands after opposition was expressed by some Tulelake Basin residents and Rep. John T. Doolittle, whose far Northern California Congressional district includes Modoc County.
If the private lands had been included, property owners would have been eligible for tax incentives and grant programs.
The area recommended as a historical landmark includes Caltrans property that housed the camp's stockade.
Jimmy Yamaichi, a camp detainee who helped build the stockade, attended the Wednesday advisory board hearing and spoke on behalf of the site designation. Yamaichi is a member of the Tule Lake Committee, which holds pilgrimages to the Klamath Basin every two years.
A representative from the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles also supported the designation.
An explanation of the proposal, including a discussion of why the acreage for the proposed landmark was reduced, was made by Stephanie S. Toothman, Chief of Cultural Resource Programs for the National Park Service's Pacific West Regional Office in Seattle.
The recommendation by the Landmarks Committee will be forwarded to the National Park System Advisory Board and Norton. There was no indication when a final decision will be made.
During World War II, the camp covered 7,400 acres. It reached a peak population of 18,789 detainees. It opened as a relocation center in 1942 and was converted to the nation's only segregation center in 1943. Most of those held at the center had refused to sign loyalty oaths.
Tule Lake closed March 20, 1946. The internee barracks were sold to homesteaders and moved to sites around the Tulelake Basin. Some have been converted to barns, machine shops or used for storage, and others were remodeled into homes.
The Flying Goose subdivision, which has many of the World War II era buildings, was a residence area for soldiers and administrators stationed at the barracks.
By LEE JUILLERAT
A small portion of the former Tule Lake Segregation Center, where Japanese Americans were held during World War II, has been recommended for designation as a National Historical Landmark.
Members of the Landmarks Committee of the National Park System Advisory Board, which met in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, unanimously voted to recommend that Interior Secretary Gail Norton designate 46 acres. The camp was located six miles south of Tulelake near present-day Newell.
The 46 acres are owned by the California Department of Transportation and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and does not include any private property.
The original proposal discussed at two public meetings in Newell earlier this year was for 91 acres and included private land, mostly in what is known as the Flying Goose subdivision.
Acreage for the National Historical Landmark proposal was scaled back to eliminate private lands after opposition was expressed by some Tulelake Basin residents and Rep. John T. Doolittle, whose far Northern California Congressional district includes Modoc County.
If the private lands had been included, property owners would have been eligible for tax incentives and grant programs.
The area recommended as a historical landmark includes Caltrans property that housed the camp's stockade.
Jimmy Yamaichi, a camp detainee who helped build the stockade, attended the Wednesday advisory board hearing and spoke on behalf of the site designation. Yamaichi is a member of the Tule Lake Committee, which holds pilgrimages to the Klamath Basin every two years.
A representative from the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles also supported the designation.
An explanation of the proposal, including a discussion of why the acreage for the proposed landmark was reduced, was made by Stephanie S. Toothman, Chief of Cultural Resource Programs for the National Park Service's Pacific West Regional Office in Seattle.
The recommendation by the Landmarks Committee will be forwarded to the National Park System Advisory Board and Norton. There was no indication when a final decision will be made.
During World War II, the camp covered 7,400 acres. It reached a peak population of 18,789 detainees. It opened as a relocation center in 1942 and was converted to the nation's only segregation center in 1943. Most of those held at the center had refused to sign loyalty oaths.
Tule Lake closed March 20, 1946. The internee barracks were sold to homesteaders and moved to sites around the Tulelake Basin. Some have been converted to barns, machine shops or used for storage, and others were remodeled into homes.
The Flying Goose subdivision, which has many of the World War II era buildings, was a residence area for soldiers and administrators stationed at the barracks.
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