Tule Lake Segregation Center: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Tule Lake National Monument

Regions 8, 9, 10, & 12 Park Cultural Landscapes Program

Inventory Unit Description: The Tule Lake Segregation Center is situated within the Tule Lake Unit of World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument in Modoc County, California, approximately 35 miles southeast of Klamath Falls, Oregon. The 37-acre national monument lies in the Klamath River Valley at an elevation of approximately 4,000 feet. The property is located north of Highway 139 and is accessed by two roads-- one directly off of the highway and another spur connected to County Road 176. Construction of the Tule Lake Relocation Center began on April 15, 1942 and it received its first group of Japanese American detainees on May 27, 1942. On July 31, 1943, Tule Lake was converted to a high-security “segregation center” to house those labeled as “disloyal.” Within just a few months, the population of the Tule Lake Segregation Center rose to 18,789 people. As the last of the ten relocation centers to cease operations, Tule Lake closed on March 28, 1946. Dismantling of the segregation center occurred quickly with many buildings and structures leased onsite or transferred to veterans, homesteaders, government agencies, and nonprofit groups, and removed from the property. Despite these activities, a small number of buildings were never removed from the site and today remain as tangible reminders of the history of the segregation center at Tule Lake. In 1975, the State of California officially recognized the historical significance of Tule Lake by registering the site as California State Historic Landmark No. 850-2. In 2006, the site was designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL) under Criterion 1 due to its association with the “‘Japanese American Relocation,’ an infamous episode in our history in which almost 120,000 innocent Americans, most of them U.S. citizens, were incarcerated for their ethnicity during World War II.” Additionally, Tule Lake was listed as an NHL under Criterion 4 “as an outstanding example of a World War II U.S. Army Military Police encampment.” The period of significance begins in 1942 when Tule Lake Relocation Center was constructed and ends in 1946 when the Tule Lake Segregation Center closed. During this period, Tule Lake was comprised of 7,400 acres, which included 144 administration/support buildings, 1,036 barracks buildings and a combined total of 518 latrines, mess halls, and other communal buildings. Of the total acreage, over 3,500 acres of land were devoted to irrigated farmland, which produced crops to sustain the center. The NHL boundary includes a small portion of the original segregation center. Overall, the historic site continues to possess strong associations with Japanese American relocation activities during World War II, and retains a high level of integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. Today, the property continues to evoke the activities that took place at the site between 1942 and 1946; however, many features are in poor condition and need stabilization and ongoing preservation maintenance actions to ensure historic fabric is not lost due to exposure to the elements.

Tule Lake Segregation Center: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Tule Lake National Monument

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