View of the North Garrison after Fort McDowell’s closure, 1949. Courtesy of the California Department of Parks and Recreation, 2021.
Buildings and structures at the North Garrison, 1946. Cultural Landscape Report for the U.S. Immigration Station. Courtesy of the NPS’s Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation.
When the U.S. Immigration Station closed in 1940, the site was turned over to the U.S. Army and renamed the North Garrison of Fort McDowell. It opened a prisoner of war (POW) processing center on December 8, 1941, one day after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.
The fort's primary role was to send replacement troops overseas. POWs from Germany, Italy, and Japan; U.S. civilians with Japanese ancestry; foreign nationals; and American citizens were processed at the site.
Internees arriving at Fort McDowell would be physically searched, and their personal effects (including money) would be confiscated. They would be given a serial number, fingerprinted, photographed, examined by a medical officer, and assigned a bed in the prisoner of war barracks. After several weeks, internees would be sent to other internment camps across the United States.
At the end of the war, the North Garrison’s role shifted to repatriating all Japanese POWs back to Japan.
The North Garrison could hold between 750 and 800 people during World War II. The camp was composed of four main areas: barracks, mess hall, recreation area, and U.S. Army enlisted personnel barracks.
These buildings were heated with steam heat from the central heating plant and had electric light. The barracks, mess hall, and recreation area were entirely enclosed by woven wire fencing topped with barbed wire that was eight to ten feet tall in most cases. Several guard towers were situated around the site and staffed with armed guards. The North Garrison dock was also guarded.
Fort McDowell post exchange building with the POW barracks seen behind, c.1940s. Courtesy of the California Department of Parks and Recreation.
POW Mess Hall, c.1940s. Courtesy of California Department of Parks and Recreation.
The main building of this site was the barracks. The lower floor of the building consisted of one large and one small dormitory with sleeping facilities for three hundred and twelve people. Three small rooms on the first floor were used as an office, supply room, and cell for ‘unruly prisoners.’
The second floor had a large and small dormitory that provided sleeping quarters for four hundred and eighteen people. Several rooms on the second floor were reserved for military POW officers, the surgeon’s office, and the infirmary. The large dormitory was partitioned to separate POWs when necessary.
The mess hall provided room for two hundred people to eat at one time. Today, this building still houses kitchen equipment used by the U.S. Army. Outside the entrance to the mess hall was a wooden pathway with sinks for POWs to rinse their trays after meals.
