More than ten thousand persons passed through the camp which at its peak contained 7,318 Japanese Americans, nearly all of whom were former California residents and two-thirds of whom were United States citizens.  Under a presidential executive order, the forced "evacuation" of Japanese Americans was justified on the basis of "military necessity" in the months following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor and the professed inability of the military to gauge the loyalty of individual Japanese Americans. 

For information about the State Historical Fund’s participation in the preservation of this property see the Project Snapshot.