Camp Lordsburg

The panel's Japanese and Japanese-American civilians were mostly Issei, immigrants the law barred from citizenship, arrested by the FBI as enemy aliens. The largest group, 613 men, came in July 1942 from Fort Lincoln in North Dakota; about 250, many from Hawaiʻi or Alaska, came from Fort Sam Houston. They got off the train and walked to the camp across the desert. Because they were classed as enemy aliens, Spain oversaw their treatment under the Geneva Convention. Most of the 1,300-acre site is private land now; a water tank, a hospital building and a warehouse survive.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Camp Lordsburg Near this site the U.S. Army operated a camp during World War II. It opened as an internment camp for the Japanese and Japanese-American civilians from 1942-43. It later reopened as the Lordsburg Prisoner of War Camp for Germans and Italians from 1943-45. This camp is one of the few sites in the U.S. to house Japanese, Germans and Italians during its operations.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Lordsburg — 3.0 mi
• Lordsburg-Hidalgo Library — 3.3 mi
• Lordsburg — 3.3 mi
• Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument — 3.8 mi