The Camp was first built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1935, but later housed Japanese Americans in 1943 then German Prisoners of War from 1944 - 1946. It is located on Hill Road approximately two miles north of the Klamath Basin Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center. Visitors may only enter the grounds as part of a ranger guided program. You are welcome to take pictures of the buildings and view the road side exhibits from outside the fence.
Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, led the U.S. into World War II and radically changed the lives of men, women, and children of Japanese ancestry living in the U.S. Forced to leave their homes, Japanese American citizens and resident aliens were incarcerated in 10 war relocation centers in remote locations throughout the country. One of these, Tule Lake in California, was the longest occupied and most repressive of all the government's centers.
The Peninsula/Castle Rock was within the boundary of the historic Tule Lake Segregation Center. Originally an island in Tule Lake, it contains an 800-foot bluff called Castle Rock. Atop Castle Rock is a replica of the cross that was placed there by Nikkei incarcerated at Tule Lake before it became a segregation center. The Peninsula is managed primarily for raptor and wildlife habitat. It is closed to public access.
The Tule Lake Segregation Center was the only one of the ten War Relocation Centers to be converted into a maximum security segregation center and add a stockade and jail to the grounds.
