A large stretch of dry prairie land that was once used to incarcerate thousands of Japanese-Americans during World War II has now become a National Park focused on the memory of their forced dispossession under orders from President Roosevelt.
Located in southeastern Colorado and called Camp Amache, it held 7,300 Japanese Americans, most of them citizens. Abandoned after the war, it was designated in 2022 as the Amache National Historic Site, which protected the land from development. It was then purchased and donated by the Town of Granada, clearing the way for its new status.
The announcement was timed before the Day of Remembrance of Japanese Incarceration During World War II, observed on Feb. 19. It is the seventh internment camp to be established as a national park in the U.S. Other sites that preserve this history include Minidoka in Idaho, Manzanar and Tule Lake in California.
