Catalina Federal Honor Camp - World War II Sites on Waymarking.com

Relocation during World War II

After the Japanese military attacked Pearly Harbor on December 7, 1941, nervous U.S. officials and political leaders were afraid that Americans of Japanese descent would conduct espionage and sabotage along the West Coast. On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which authorized the Secretary of War to designate military areas from which "any or all persons may be excluded."

What followed was the largest forced removal and incarceration in U.S. history. Some 117,000 people, two-thirds of them U.S citizens, were sent to ten internment camps, called "relocation centers," in remote parts of the country. In addition, thousands of Japanese American community leaders were taken to alien detention centers run by the Department of Justice.

Honor Camp prisoners built the Mt. Lemmon Highway

In the early 20th century, the only road to Mt. Lemmon began at the town of Oracle and snaked up the north face of the mountain.

Construction of the Mt. Lemmon Highway, a much shorter route from Tucson, began in 1933. To cut cost, prisoners supplied most of the labor, and a "Federal Honor Camp" was built here in 1939 to replace the temporary prison camps along the route.

At first, prisoners had only picks, shovels, and wheelbarrows to use. "Before I went to the Honor Camp, I thought prisoners on broke rocks with picks in cartoons," one former prisoner recalls. Roadwork progressed faster when jackhammers, bulldozers, and tractors were added.

Who is Gordon Hirabayashi?

In 1942, at age 24, Gordon Hirabayashi challenged the relocation and internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Convicted of violating a curfew imposed on Japanese Americans, he was sentenced to the Catalina Federal Honor Camp, the work camp that stood here between 1939 and 1973.

Hirabayashi's case was reopened in 1987 and led to official apologies from the U.S. government fro the mass incarceration of 117,000 Japanese American citizens and aliens alike.






The Honor Camp Today

Although much is known about the history of the Honor Camp, there is little left to see of the prison itself. Most of the buildings were razed when the camp closed in the 1970's. The story of the Honor Camp and its inmates has been reconstructed from official documents and interviews. But what about what was left behind?

The arrangement of building foundations helps us to imagine what the prison looked like and to gain an understanding of the daily lives of the people who lived here. You can still experience the isolated setting that made this site ideal for an outdoor prison. Please explore this historical site, but do not remove artifacts of damage building remains. Help us preserve this piece of the past for the future.

Admission Fee: U.S. Forest Recreation pass required; $5.00 day Opening Days/Times: 24/7 Related Website: Not listed Supplementary Related Website: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Posting a picture(s) of the location would be nice although not required.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   01/03/2019 The Snowdog visited it