Delta in Millard County, Utah — The American Mountains (Southwest)

Topaz 1942–1946

Central Utah WRA Relocation Center

Photographed by Dawn Bowen, June 20, 2007

1. Topaz 1942 - 1946 Marker

Inscription. Fifteen miles west at Abraham is the location of the bleak desert site of a concentration camp, one of ten in Western America, in which 110,000 persons of Japanese ancestry were interned against their will during World War II. They were the victims of wartime hysteria, racial animosity, and economic opportunism on the West Coast. Confined behind barbed wire fence and guarded by armed sentries and held for no justifiable reason, the internees, two-thirds of whom were American citizens, and the majority of whom were women and children, not only endured the bitter physical discomforts of the desert heat and cold, but sustained a shocking affront to their sense of justice and fair play and human dignity. May this grim episode of basic American principles gone astray remind us to work for understanding and goodwill and justice in an enlightened American today.

The former residents of Topaz remember with grateful appreciation the friendliness and understanding with which the people of Delta received us during the period of our trial and despair.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Asian Americans

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• Settlements & Settlers • War, World II.

Location. 39° 21.157′ N, 112° 34.69′ W. Marker is in Delta, Utah, in Millard County. It is on Main Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 150 W Main Street, Delta UT 84624, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Central Utah Valleys and in the West Desert.

It is also in the American Mountain West

and on the Colorado Plateau.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain

and also Mexico’s Alta California.

Other nearby markers. At least 5 other markers are within 6 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Escalante Trail (a few steps from this marker); McCullough Log House and Post Office (within shouting distance of this marker); Pioneer Cabin (within shouting distance of this marker); Gunnison Massacre Site (about 700 feet away, measured in a direct line); Millard Academy (approx. 5.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in

Marker in the park image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Dawn Bowen, June 20, 2007

2. Marker in the park

Delta.

Additional keywords. WRA: Wartime Relocation Authority; forced relocation

Directional map to Topaz site image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Dawn Bowen, June 20, 2007

3. Directional map to Topaz site

Credits. This page was last revised on January 25, 2020. It was originally submitted on June 28, 2007, by Dawn Bowen of Fredericksburg, Virginia. This page has been viewed 1,915 times since then and 31 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on June 28, 2007, by Dawn Bowen of Fredericksburg, Virginia. • J. J. Prats was the editor who published this page.