Topaz War Relocation Center WWII

In September 1942 the United States began imprisoning its own citizens here. Under Executive Order 9066, some 8,000 people of Japanese ancestry — most of them American-born, none charged with any crime — were removed from the San Francisco Bay Area and confined behind barbed wire on this alkali flat. Topaz became Utah's fifth-largest city: tarpaper barracks with a single bulb and a coal stove, dust in summer, snow in winter. A 1983 federal commission named the causes plainly — race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership. The government apologized in 1988.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Topaz Museum — steps away
• Fort Deseret (Black Hawk War) — 7.3 mi
• Topaz Interment Camp WWII — 11 mi
• Gunnison Massacre (2) Monuments — 12 mi