Construction of Centers
To accommodate persons of Japanese ancestry subject to evacuation, pending their transfer inland, fourteen temporary Assembly Centers, and one Reception Center were constructed in the states of California, Oregon and Washington in the record period of an average of 21 days each. A former Civilian Conservation Corps camp in Arizona was conditioned as an Assembly Center also. Accommodations varied in capacity from 2,500 to 19,000 persons each.
The one Reception Center, at Manzanar, Inyo County, California, was subsequently transferred to the War Relocation Authority, a civilian agency, and became one of ten Relocation Centers. The United States Army Engineers were responsible for the building of all Assembly Centers under the supervision of the Commanding General, Western Defense Command.
Construction of the temporary Assembly Centers were necessary because of the need for speedy evacuation. This could not await the site selection for and construction of the Relocation Centers.
