Minidoka Relocation Center Warehouse, 111 South Fir Street, Shoshone, Lincoln County, ID

Significance: This warehouse was one of six hundred buildings constructed at the Minidoka Relocation Camp for the internment of people of Japanese descent after the bombing of Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II. Thousands of Japanese-American citizens and other Japanese people were forced to leave their homes, jobs, and towns and move to one of several hastily built centers to isolate them and prevent any potential collaboration with the enemy. The Minidoka camp included a variety of building types: residential, communal, administrative, service, and agricultural. One of several warehouses, this and most all other buildings at the camp were demolished or moved from their original locations after the war. The site was then divided into small farm parcels and distributed to war veterans. Since then, the National Park Service has acquired and designated part of the site as the Minidoka Internment National Monument. Although this warehouse was moved from the site and altered, it is an extant remnant of the camp. Its significance lies in the historical fact of the interment camps, where citizens were unjustly "convicted" without due process solely due to their race. Most Americans regard this as a shameful episode to be remembered so that it never happens again. The warehouse is significant as an instrument of this remembrance.
Survey number: HABS ID-131
Building/structure dates: 1942 Initial Construction