The United States government established Manzanar Internment Camp, or Manzanar War Relocation Center, in California in 1942. In the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the government feared sabotage by those of Japanese descent within the country, especially on the West Coast. President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order #9066, which established military zones and led to the internment of many of these individuals. The site at Manzanar was one of ten centers created by the government for this purpose.

The government leased the land from the City of Los Angeles and built a complex that included a hospital, a mess hall, an auditorium, an orphanage, laundry houses, sanitation units, schools and barracks. The contractor Griffith and Company constructed the majority of the buildings in six short weeks, and over time the internees built more structures. By the time the camp closed in 1945, the complex contained over eight hundred buildings.

After the end of World War II, the United States government dismantled the camp as mandated by the terms of its lease with Los Angeles. For years all that remained on the site were the auditorium, guard houses, and a cemetery. Officials took apart, auctioned off, or sold barracks and other buildings.

The National Park Service obtained a portion of the site in 1997 and began an effort to reconstruct part of the original camp. The Park Service had the mess hall returned and reconstructed near the old auditorium, and had the auditorium itself converted into a visitors’ center called the Manzanar National Historic Site Interpretive Center. The National Park Service is also attempting to recreate a block of authentic barracks. These original structures now serve to educate visitors about the history of Japanese internment and provide a glimpse into life at Manzanar.