Granada War Relocation Center (1942-1945) - One of ten World War II Relocation Centers built to house West Coast Japanese U.S. Citizens and resident aliens for the duration of the war with Japan. Established under Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin Roosevelt in February 1942. Initially established by the military Wartime Civil Control Authority (WCCA) and became the Granada War Relocation Center run by the civilian War Relocation Authority (WRA). The Center was built in 1942 and was located near Granada in Prowers County, Colorado. Closed in 1945. Also known as Camp Amache.
Granada WRC Replica Guard Tower
Granada WRC Restored Water Tank.
Granada WRC Restored Barracks Building.
History
Granada WRC, Barracks Construction with Pre-fab wall sections.Granada WRC View of a Central Section of the Camp.
Construction began on 12 Jun 1942 with 1,000 hired workers and 50 evacuee volunteers, the Center general contractor was Lambie, Moss, Little, and James of Amarillo, Texas. The center was operational by the end of August 1942 as the Granada War Relocation Center (WRC) run by the civilian War Relocation Authority (WRA).
Granada WRC Plan.
The relocation centers were not considered by authorities to be either concentration camps or internment camps but the perception was otherwise. Barbed wire fencing enclosed most of the living area, the guard towers with searchlights and the military police were always visible.
Granada War Relocation Center Timeline
Date
Event
Notes
12 Jun 1942
Construction began
27 Aug 1942
First group of evacuees arrives
From Merced Assembly Center
Oct 1942
Max population 7,318
early 1943
High School completed
1 Sep 1945
Returns begin
Mid Sep 1945
Military Police depart
15 Oct 1945
Official Closure
Last Group of 128 Depart to Sacramento and nearby towns
Residential Areas
Granada WRC Typical Barracks Building on 9 Dec 1942. Exterior Bins held Coal for Heating.Granada WRC Barracks Room Interior.
Facilities at the center included 30 residential blocks with each block having twelve, 20' by 120' barracks structures and five service buildings. The service buildings included a 40' by 100' mess hall, a 20' by 50' laundry, two latrines and an ironing room. These buildings were all temporary military-style Theater of Operations (TO) structures of wood frame construction but had fibreboard or asbestos shingle siding, rather than the tarpaper common at most of the other relocation centers. The foundations of the barracks were a slab or concrete perimeter construction with brick floors rather than the post-and-pier foundations of other centers.
Other Facilities
Granada WRC Regularly Scheduled Dance at Mess Hall.Granada WRC Co-op Store Counter.
Other facilities at the center included most of the infrastructure that would be required for any town of 10,000. The administrative area included admin buildings, a town hall, post office, mess hall, police station, and staff housing. There was a warehouse group and motor pool group. Other groups included a Hospital and Orphanage Group, schools, and fire protection. A Co-op store was financed and operated by the internees who provided $2,500 to fund the enterprise in January 1943.
Granada WRC High School Graduation on 23 Jan 1945.
Agricultural facilities included a hog farm and chicken ranch as well as crop fields. The military police provided external security while an internee police force took care of internal police activities.
Closure
Granada WRC at Closure in Oct 1945. Notice all the Trees and Gardens.Granada WRC Last Resident Departs 15 Oct 1945.
Officially closed on 15 Oct 1945 when the last group of 128 evacuees departed on two special coaches for Sacramento and nearby towns. At the peak of its population, the Granada WRC had 7,567 residents. The Center recorded 412 births and 107 deaths during the three years of its operation.
Current Status
Now part of Granada National Historic Landmark. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994 and designated a National Historic Landmark on 10 Feb 2006.
Burton, Farrell, Lord, and Lord, Confinement and Ethnicity: An Overview of World War II Japanese American Relocation Sites, Western Archeological and Conservation Center, National Park Service, 1999 (rev. July 2000), NPS Online Book.
Wyatt, Barbara, Ed, Japanese Americans In World War II, National Park Service, August 2012, Washington DC, Pdf.
