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Show Volume 98 MOJ( h 1 9 9 8 Number One Published by the Topaz Museum Board Topaz Museum . 'p urcha.es Topaz Site \ prote~tion. The telephone compaJ!)Y charged hundreds of dollars to run lines and the sit~ was hardly inviting. However in 1993, orie family placed a modular home on the mess hall foundation of block Until 1993, the Topaz site looked much as it did in 1946. True, 28, and that paved the way for more development. Now three trailers greasewoad had over-run the proper'ty, punching up through Jhe and three h6me&dot the southeast corner of the Topaz site. • Because desert floor almost any place it chose, but, the historic nature of the there was no guarantee that the development would stop, the Topaz -site was mostly intact. Now at least 400 acres have been purchased by Museum the Topaz Museum, helping to ensure that the site will not be -Board destroyed. • In the 1950s two changes altered the site. The military recognized police area was made into a loading dock for mines located to the west the desperate in the Drum Mountains and a small fIame house was constructed on need to ' block 42. For years the camp remained in that condition. • In i976, purchase as the Bicentennial Year, the Japanese American Citizen LeagUe in Salt much of the Lake City bought an acre of land to place a commemorative marker at site as ' the site, just o~ts ide of the camp proper in the northwest corner. The possible. Of property was inside the barbed wire of the original site, but outside ~he the 640 acre area that had been tne residential section. • The frame house that . section, had been'built on block 42 was occupied sporadically until 1991 when about 500 Day of Re~embranc~ speaker; Bill Lann Lee, associate the most recent tenant had had enough and moved to parts unknown. acres had Stuart Ishimaru visit Topaz site with}ane Beckwith and' Deltans had always marveled that anyone would want to live in such a - been used as television I newspaper reporters-. . " • desolate place with the ever-present infestation of ,?osquitoes and part of the residential area, including 100 acres for the warehouses, ' scorpions, constant wind, lack of services, and isolation -- all.serving administration buildings, hospital and the military po'iice area"The as constant reminders of the looming Great Basin desert and the iand·purchased includes the western half of the camp, :;tpproximatdy dramatic history of the site: • Still there had always been rumors in \ blocks 1 through 4, south to the last row ofblocks.-(See. map) That town that "somepne" wanted to turn Topaz into a sub-division,-but portion of the site has retained it.s historic flavor with the exception who could take that seriously? The county couldn't provide fire of the vegetation and ant hills. The Museum .board will study a land -use policy for the s~te so it will continue to teach visito~ abQut the Topaz site purchase area, dark outline, approximately 415 acres , history of internment. i u. hi h •• ~!:2 o 00 § Last Topaz Reunion '98 _ San Jose, May 29-31, 19~8 Chuck Kubo,kawa IlO . • ~ou.:!~ • W.II PURCHASE AREA _' Barbae! wlr. Quard • tow.r Guard to"".r • The Topaz '98 Reunion Committee, cordially invites you to attend the "Last Topaz Reu~ion" on May 29 - 31, 1998a.t the Doubletree Hotel in San Jose, California inJ he heart of Silicon Valley. The Committee, so f.ar has spent a year in planning this reunion for your enjoyment, pleasure, and education relating to the wartime internment. We warm heartedly welcome and look forward to seeing many new first time attendees as well as 'those who, have attende,d the previous reunions. We have pared down the reunion cost to the lowes~ possible, aware that service prices increased since the Burlingame Reunion six years ago. We will do everything possible to make your attendance enjoyable, worthwhile and memorable. • You can enjoy the ~pening night Friday Night Buffet Mixer with entertainment and dancing to OJ Dan ltatani, Saturday Dinner Dance Banquet and PfOgram ~ith George Yoshida's Band and ending with the Sunday Sayonara Buffet Brunch. • To make this reunion u~ique ' we have invited our Nikkei friends from across our borders north and south t~ ,share their untold internment e'xperiences with ~s, Five ' |
