News Release Archive

Reclamation Seeks Information on the Minidoka Internment Camp Warehouse

Media Contact: Diana Cross, (208) 378-5020, dcross@pn.usbr.gov
John Martinson, jmartinson@pn.usbr.gov

For Release: October 06, 2004

The Bureau of Reclamation is looking for information about a warehouse that was located at the Minidoka Relocation Center in Hunt, Idaho, during World War II, and later relocated to Shoshone, Idaho. This information will help Reclamation provide details for a report it is currently preparing about the history and purpose of that warehouse when it was at the Minidoka Relocation Center (Hunt Site).

During World War II, the 33,000-acre Hunt Site in Jerome County was one of the largest communities in Idaho. Its peak population of 9,500 residents was primarily American citizens of Japanese ancestry who were interned after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Following the war, Reclamation assumed responsibility for managing the Hunt Site.

In 2001, about 73 acres of the former camp were designated as the Minidoka Internment National Monument, and management of the site was transferred to the National Park Service. Few traces remain of the original camp, where 600 buildings once stood. Among them is the warehouse building that was moved to Shoshone in 1952, and which still remains under Reclamation jurisdiction.

If you have original photographs or any information about this or any other warehouses that were at the Minidoka Relocation Center, please contact: John Martinson, SRA-6117, 230 Collins Road, Boise ID 83702-4520, or telephone: (208) 383-2287

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