During World War II, over 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were forcibly removed from their homes and incarcerated without due process of law. Although little remains of the barbed-wire fences and tar-papered barracks, the Minidoka concentrati...
Historic buildings in Block 22 provide a glimpse into living conditions and daily activities at the camp. This short trail loop from the visitor center is a top destination for those who are limited on time.
Down the hill on the northside of the Visitor Center and Root Cellar are two original buildings placed back on site at Block 22. Block 22 is a five-acre square of dirt bordered by a gravel path. A historic barrack and mess hall are situated on the Eastern edge of the Block, with the length of the barrack running parallel to the gravel path. The barrack is a wooden structure supported on cinder blocks and measuring 20 feet wide by 120 feet long. One side of the barrack has three evenly spaced doors with wooden stairs in front of the two outer doors. There are windows on both sides of the building. The mess hall is perpendicular to the barrack and about twice as wide. It is also raised above the ground, with stairs leading to a pair of white doors that stand out against the black, tar-papered walls.
The Maritime Washington National Heritage Area tells a nationally important story of maritime heritage, from Native American canoe cultures to industrial working waterfronts, that shaped western Washington and contributes today to our development as a nation.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation's historic places worthy of preservation. In 1942, Executive Order 9066 that moved nearly 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans into 10 isolated war relocation centers in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. Minidoka National Historic Site tells one of these stories.
Located in the entrance parking lot behind a basalt rock wall are 2 plaques commemorating Minidoka National Historic Site’s role in World War II. The parking lot is flanked on the right by a reconstruction of a guard tower, on the left is the remains of the military police station with the waiting room to the northeast. Directly to the east is the basalt rock wall constructed in 1979 to hold the National Historic Site plaques and behind that is the Northside Canal. Plaque one (On Left) reads: Minidoka Relocation Center, May 26, 1990 This is in recognition of those people who made the Minidoka Relocation Center Project possible. This project was initiated in 1978 by the Pocatello/Blackfoot Chapter and Intermountain District Council of the Japanese American Citizens League. In 1979 the Minidoka Relocation Center was placed on the National Register of Historic Places through the efforts of U.S. Senator Frank Church, Idaho. Completion of this project highlights a long, cooperative effort between the Bureau of Reclamation and the Japanese American Citizens League. Development of the Minidoka Relocation Center as an Idaho Centennial Project was jointly sponsored by the Bureau of Reclamation, the Idaho Centennial Commission and the Japanese American Citizens League. Celebrate Idaho 1890-Centennial- 1990 Plaque Two (Located on right) reads: This property has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the Unitied States Department of the Interior
After the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 giving the War Department authority to create zones from which Japanese Americans were excluded. The first exclusion area designated was Bainbridge Island. On March 30, 1942 the Japanese Americans living on Bainbridge Island were gathered at Eagledale Ferry Dock and sent to an incarceration camp in Manzanar, CA before being tranferred to Minidoka in Idaho.
The Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial is an outdoor exhibit commemorating the internment of Japanese Americans from Bainbridge Island in the state of Washington. It is a unit of the Minidoka National Historic Site in Idaho. The memorial wall winds down to the historic Eagledale ferry dock landing site, where the first of more than 120,000 Japanese—two-thirds of whom were American citizens—were banished from their West Coast homes and placed in incarceration centers during World War II. The memorial is a reminder—“Nidoto Nai Yoni” (Let it Not Happen Again)—of what happened on March 30, 1942. Built of old-growth red cedar, granite and basalt, the wall honors the names of all 276 Japanese and Japanese Americans who were exiled from Bainbridge Island by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 and Civilian Exclusion Order No. 1. It also celebrates this island community, which defended its Japanese American friends and neighbors, supported them while they were away, and welcomed them home. The first part of the memorial to be constructed was an outdoor cedar "story wall" with the names of all 276 Japanese and Japanese Americans resident on the island at the time. The grounds of the memorial wall is natural landscaping, native species including sword fern, mahonia, salal, and shore pine. Local artist Steve Gardner created friezes to be placed on the wall, depicting some of the scenes of residents being herded onto the ferries. Five terracotta friezes represent their unique American story of immigration, inclusion, exclusion, incarceration, and welcoming return. A small Plaque placed on site reads: Nidoto Nai Yoni – Let it not happen again On the morning of March 30, 1942, 227 Bainbridge Island men, women, and children, most of them United States Citizens, were escorted by armed soldiers to the Eagledale ferry landing. They solemnly boarded the ferry Kkehloken and departed on a lonely journey with an unknown destination and fate. They were exiled by Presidential Executive Order 9066 and Civilian Exclusion Order No. 1 because they were Nikkei – persons of Japanese ancestry. With only six days notice they were forced to hastily sell, store, or make arrangements for all of their possessions, businesses and property. They were allowed to take only what they could carry or wear. They were the first of more than 120,000 Japanese–Americans to be forcibly removed from their homes and experience three years of unconstitutional incarceration. Not all were incarcerated. Some were drafted into the military, some were unjustly imprisoned, and some moved away — but all were forbidden to remain. We dedicate this site to honor those who suffered and to cherish their friends and community who stood by them and welcomed them home. May the spirit of this memorial inspire each of us to safeguard constitutional right for all. Nidoto Nai Yoni “Let it not happen again.”
This site helps interprete the homesteading period in Idaho after WWII and contains a portion of the original footprint of the Minidoka Relocation Center, a Japanese American incarceration center.
The Herrmann House site is historically significant as it contains a portion of the original footprint of the Minidoka Relocation Center. The Herrmann Residence is a simple wood framed single story structure, rectangular in plan with a side gable roof. Raised on a parged concrete foundation, the walls are clad in baby blue wood split-faced shingles in regular rows. The building was used as the temporary visitor center until the permanent visitor center was completed. It is now offices for the staff. The Herrmann property is 125 acres large and includes water tower foundation to the southwest, Fire Station #1 to the west, Center Field and Block 22 to the north and a portion of the root cellar lies to the northeast.
Built by Minidoka incarcerees, the Swimming Hole once served as a place of recreation, relief from the desert heat, and nostalgia for the waterscapes of the West Coast. From the Swimming Hole, you can cross the street to the Visitor Center, or you can follow the trail on a secluded stroll past the Northside Canal and barbed-wire fence.
Facing in an Eastern direction, there is a short, graveled path leading to a small clearing that can fit only a handful of people. The clearing has a wooden bench and an outdoor information panel that provides historical interpretation about the swimming hole. What remains of the swimming hole is a depression that blends in with most of the surrounding landscape, since it is dry and overgrown with sagebrush. The depression is about 20 feet wide by 200 feet long. The nearest edge of it lies just beyond the information panel, indicated by a sharp slope in the ground. On the North side of the depression is Hunt Road. To the South side, a line of trees and a tall embankment conceal the canal, which used to direct water into the swimming hole. It is a seasonal canal with water running in the canal during the warmer months, but dry otherwise.
Located at 1428 Hunt Road. Start here for visitor information, the passport stamp, the park film, museum exhibits, and the park bookstore. The visitor center is open Fridays through Sundays, from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend. If the visitor center is not open during your visit, please check the After-Hours box for brochures and the passport stamp. The historic site grounds are open year-round for self-guided walking tours. Restrooms are only open during visitor center hours.
Much of the Minidoka Visitor Center, located within a historic warehouse, is dedicated to museum exhibits. Displays and historic objects help to tell the story of the Japanese Americans incarcerated here during WWII.
Take a Self-Guided Walking Tour of Minidoka
Minidoka National Historic Site offers 1.6 miles (2.5 km) of gravel walking trails. Visitors may explore the site and the exteriors of historic structures at their own pace. Educational exhibits are placed along the trail to provide information.
Watch the Minidoka Film
"Minidoka: An American Concentration Camp" offers a moving introduction to Minidoka National Historic Site and the Japanese American incarceration during WWII. The 30-minute film, narrated by actor and incarceration survivor George Takei, can be viewed online or in person at the Minidoka Visitor Center.
Become a Minidoka Junior Ranger!
Become a Minidoka Junior Ranger and earn a special badge or patch! Junior Ranger booklets offer opportunities for visitors of all ages to explore and help protect this important chapter in American history.
