SALINAS
| Official name: | Salinas Assembly Center | Location: | Salinas, California |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coordinates: | 36.69° N, 121.65° W | Opening date: | April 27, 1942 |
| Closing date: | July 4, 1942 |
Monterey Bay communities behind the fairground fence
The Army converted the Salinas racetrack and fairgrounds into a detention center for Japanese Americans from Monterey Bay communities, including Watsonville, Salinas, and Gilroy. Its population came largely from nearby agricultural areas.
During the camp’s short operation in spring and summer 1942, people organized education, recreation, and community government within the restrictions of confinement. Most were transferred to Poston between late June and early July. Their journey linked coastal California’s farming communities with a camp on the Colorado River Indian Reservation.
Sources: Densho Encyclopedia · Salinas
Across the assembly centers
Following their forced removal from the West Coast (described by the government as “evacuation”), Japanese Americans were initially confined in temporary detention centers called “assembly centers” before their eventual assignment to one of ten incarceration camps in the interior, officially designated “war relocation centers” and operated by the new civilian agency, the War Relocation Authority (WRA). The fifteen hastily constructed temporary detention centers known as “assembly centers” held the 92,000 individuals of Japanese ancestry forcibly removed under Executive Order 9066.
The table and the collection below cover all fifteen assembly centers. Each object’s caption identifies the people, places, and events it documents. Its place on this page does not assign it to this center.
| “Assembly Center” | Maximum Population | Dates Occupied |
|---|---|---|
| Fresno, CA | 5,120 (Sept. 4) | May 6 – Oct. 30 |
| Marysville, CA | 2,451 (June 2) | May 8 – June 29 |
| Mayer, AZ | 245 (May 25) | May 7 – June 2 |
| Merced, CA | 4,508 (June 3) | May 6 – Sept. 15 |
| Pinedale, CA | 4,792 (June 29) | May 7 – July 23 |
| Pomona, CA | 5,434 (July 20) | May 7 – Aug. 24 |
| Portland, OR | 3,676 (June 6) | May 2 – Sept. 10 |
| Sacramento, CA | 4,739 (May 30) | May 6 – June 26 |
| Puyallup, WA | 7,390 (July 25) | April 28 – Sept. 12 |
| Salinas, CA | 3,586 (June 23) | April 27 – July 4 |
| Santa Anita, CA | 18,719 (Aug. 23) | March 27 – Oct. 27 |
| Stockton, CA | 4,271 (May 21) | May 10 – Oct. 17 |
| Tanforan, CA | 7,816 (July 25) | April 28 – Oct. 13 |
| Tulare, CA | 4,978 (Aug. 11) | April 20 – Sept. 4 |
| Turlock, CA | 3,661 (June 2) | April 30 – Aug. 12 |
