South US Japanese Internment Camps Tour     Sep. 18-28, 2024

Amache Internment Camp

Aug. 1942-Oct. 1945

Peak population: 2318 (1945)

Located one mile outside of Granada, in southeastern Colorado, it was the only Japanese Incarceration Camp established on private land. Before the war Granada was just one of the small farming towns that dotted the valley of the Arkansas River. Nearly all of the camp's internees came from California: south Los Angeles, the Central Valley and the northern coast.

Crystal City Internment Camp

Nov. 1942-Dec. 1948

Peak population: 3374 (1945)

Located in Zavala County in South Texas, it held internees from the U.S. and Latin America and their families; also held German and Italian nationals and their families. The summer temperatures would reach as high as 114 degrees.

​

Rohwer Internment Camp

Sept. 1942-Nov. 1945

Peak population: 8475 (1945)

Interned people from Los Angeles and San Joaquin, California, who endured a 3-day train ride to Arkansas. The site had severe drainage problems; about half of the site was under swampy water during the spring.

Santa Fe Interment Camp (Detention Center)

Feb. 1942-Sept. 1946

Peak population: 2100 (1945)

Included internees from Alaska, Hawa'ii, Latin America, and the Pacific Islands. Later included 866 "No-No boys" and 313 "troublemakers." from Tule Lake camp. After 1942, German and Italian nationals were interned here as well.

Jerome Internment Camp

Oct. 1942-June 1948

Peak population: 8497 (1943)

Interned people from Los Angeles, Fresno, Sacramento, and Honolulu. 120 miles southeast of Little Rock. The 10,000-acre area was impoverished and consisted of heavily wooded swampland. Summers were hot and humid, with chiggers, mosquitoes, and poisonous snakes.

Sep. 18 Depart HNL to DEN

Sep. 19 Visit Amache Visitor Center

Sep. 20 Visit Santa Fe Internment camp marker

Sep. 21 Two nights in Albuquerque

Sep. 23 Flight to San Antonio, TX

Sep. 24 Visit Crystal City camp marker

Sep. 25 Flight to Little Rock, AK

Sep. 26 Visit Jerome & Rohwer camp sites

Sep. 27 Overnight in Little Rock

Sep. 28 Depart LIT to HNL