Minidoka Internment National Monument: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Minidoka Internment National Monument, National Park Service

Biscombe, Jason; Tamura, Anna

The Minidoka Internment National Monument comprises 72.22 acres of the former Minidoka Relocation Center. During World War II, the Center consisted of approximately 34,000 acres of land managed by the War Relocation Authority. The National Monument, located in Jerome County, is situated in the Snake River Plain region of south central Idaho. This region is bounded by the Camas Prairie to the west, the Snake River to the south and east, and Craters of the Moon National Monument and the Lost River, Lemhi, and Bitterroot ranges to the north. The region is defined by a rolling plain of high desert sagebrush steppe punctuated by basalt outcroppings. Minidoka Internment National Monument is nationally significant under Criterion A, for its association with the mass incarceration of Nikkei during World War II. (“Nikkei refers to Japanese emigrants from Japan and their descendants” The period of significance is 1942‑1945, beginning with the siting and construction of the camp and ending with its closure in 1945. As a historic site, Minidoka was representative of the large‑scale encampments where West Coast Japanese Americans and Japanese resident aliens were incarcerated during World War II. During its operation, the Minidoka Relocation Center encompassed 34,063 acres and was divided into distinct functional areas. The central area of camp, totaling 946 acres, housed internees in approximately 600 barrack buildings, provided built and open space for work and recreational activities, and accommodated the War Relocation Authority in administrative, operational and staff housing areas. The central area of the camp was laid out in a crescent shape on the buildable land between the North Side Canal and basalt outcroppings to the north and east. Over the three year period, internees improved the site conditions in the camp with ball fields, victory gardens, and residential gardens. This central area was defined by eight watchtowers along its perimeter and for nearly 6 months, a five‑strand barbed wire fence encircled the area. Other areas within the 34,000 acre Center included extensive agricultural farm plots and animal husbandry farms that were developed and maintained by internees. The remaining area of the camp was undeveloped high desert sagebrush steppe. Following the closure of the camp in 1945, most of the camp’s buildings and the vast majority of the 34,000 acre camp was parceled and given away to returning World War II veterans in land lotteries in 1947 and 1949 for homesteading. Roughly eighty‑five acres was retained by the Bureau of Reclamation to continue land reclamation projects in the surrounding area. Of these 85 acres, 72.22 acres were proclaimed a National Monument and were transferred to the National Park Service in 2001. As a temporary installation, nearly all the dominant landscape characteristics were removed after its closing and today the landscape is in poor condition. What remains of the camp are a scattering of buildings, foundations, remnant roads and walkways, trees, garden traces, and numerous remnant artifacts dating from World War II. Those landscape characteristics that contribute to the historic site include: natural systems, spatial organization, cluster arrangement, archeological resources, cultural traditions, circulation, buildings and structures, and vegetation.

Minidoka Internment National Monument: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Minidoka Internment National Monument, National Park Service

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