Turlock Assembly Center

When the National Park Service surveyed the fairgrounds in 2000 it found no trace of the camp and no marker. The monument dedicated here in May 2010 counts 3,699 people held from April 30 to August 12, 1942, against a peak of 3,662 at one time. Most had been brought a long way, from Vacaville and the East Bay, Walnut Grove and Los Angeles's Little Tokyo, and all were sent on to Gila River in Arizona. No state plaque stands. The stone credits the 1988 redress law to Reagan by its bill number.

What the plaque says

Learning from the past... On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066. This order led to the internment of Japanese Americans, a majority of whom were United States citizens. Where you are standing today was once a temporary detention center that incarcerated a total of 3,699 innocent men, women and children from April 30th to August 12th, 1942. From the Turlock Assembly Center the internees were relocated to the Gila River Internment Camp located in the Arizona desert, where they remained until the end of WWII. President Reagan sought to correct this sense of betrayal when he issued House Resolution 442 on August 10, 1988. As you stand here today it is imperative to learn from the past and to secure our civil liberties for future generations. This monument is dedicated to the uprooted evacuees of the Japanese American internment.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Empire City — 9.7 mi
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• Snelling Courthouse — 23 mi
• The Willms Ranch — 24 mi