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Dossier 1840Incarceration SiteMedium 68

Poston Relocation Center — Unit I

Parker, Arizona26600 Mohave Road1 min readFile amended Directions
Also filed as:

Poston Relocation Center — Unit I is a incarceration site in Arizona. Surviving school complex and memorial of Poston incarceration camp. Japanese American children attended the camp school until the camp closed in 1945. Tribal and local education use continued from 1949 to 1980; several original school buildings remain.

Archive note: 2 aliases on file
Closed
1945
Designation
National Historic Landmark
Coordinates
34.034, -114.228 · Approximate (city centroid)

On Colorado River Indian Tribes land; NPS describes visible memorial and school remains but does not establish current entry permission.

Is Poston Relocation Center — Unit I haunted?

No claims are filed here — the record keeps this place for its documented history, not for a haunting on file.

The record — long form

Poston is the layered — the 'reservation' that's the irony built, the 'Tribal opposed' that's the elders' no. The 'Roasten Toasten Dustin' is the named — the 'three camps' that's the miles split, the 'nicknames' that's the dust's joke. The 'school stands' is the kept — the 'adobe built' that's the inmates' hands, the 'only complex' that's the camps' last.

The '17,814' is the packed — the 'peak '42' that's the desert's crowd, the 'third city' that's the Arizona's rank. The 'strike won' is the stood — the 'November '42' that's the refusal made, the 'demands met' that's the resistance's fruit. Poston is the irrigated — the 'ditches dug' that's the labor took, the 'tribe's farms' that's the benefit's aim.

The file keeps Poston: the reservation's irony, the three nicknames, the standing school, and the won strike.

Poston is the archive's Arizona file — the camp built on the tribe that said no.

Why this file matters

Poston is the archive's Arizona file — where imprisoned Americans built schools for a reservation that refused them.

A camp keeps its irony — the file's suggestion being that Poston's hold is the doubled: the 'tribe objected' that's the injustice known, the 'adobe school' that's the hands built, and the 'strike won' that's the dignity kept.

The long record

  1. 1942History

    ~18,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated at Poston from 1942 to 1945. The record dates it to 1942-05-08–1945-11-28. The site's documented history is the record the rest of the file stands on. It's verified history: the dossier's load-bearing detail. The record appears in 'Poston'. Documented ground is what separates this file from pure legend — this is part of it.

  2. 1942Incarceration

    Poston incarceration

  3. 1945Closed

    Ceased operation

Two accounts on file

Short Description
On file

Surviving school complex and memorial of Poston incarceration camp.

Also reported

The Colorado River camp—the largest internment site, on tribal land.

Preserve both source-backed variants; no automatic overwrite.

Full Description
On file

Poston Relocation Center — Unit I is a incarceration site in Arizona. Surviving school complex and memorial of Poston incarceration camp. Japanese American children attended the camp school until the camp closed in 1945. Tribal and local education use continued from 1949 to 1980; several original school buildings remain.

Also reported

Poston is the La Paz County internment site where ~18,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated 1942–45 on Colorado River Indian Tribes land—the largest of the ten camps.

Preserve both source-backed variants; no automatic overwrite.

Current Status
On file

HISTORIC_SITE

Also reported

ACTIVE

Preserve both source-backed variants; no automatic overwrite.

Research Notes
On file

Record targets preserved Unit I complex rather than treating all three Poston camp units as one address. NPS statement that this was the only WRA camp on a reservation conflicts with Gila River evidence and is not adopted.

Also reported

Lore enrichment wave 2; VERIFY task auto-queued.

Preserve both source-backed variants; no automatic overwrite.

Documented history

  • Japanese American children attended the camp school until the camp closed in 1945. Tribal and local education use continued from 1949 to 1980; several original school buildings remain. Poston Relocation Center — Unit I's past is on record — the entry belongs to the verified layer beneath whatever lore attaches. It's verified history: the dossier's load-bearing detail. 'Poston Elementary School, Unit 1, Colorado River…' documents the entry. The date is part of the site's documented spine.

    Verified historyNational Park Service
  • ~18,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated at Poston from 1942 to 1945. The record dates it to 1942-05-08–1945-11-28. The site's documented history is the record the rest of the file stands on. It's verified history: the dossier's load-bearing detail. The record appears in 'Poston'. Documented ground is what separates this file from pure legend — this is part of it.

    1942-05-08 → 1945-11-28Verified historyWikipedia

Sources on file

Field notes & open questions

Record targets preserved Unit I complex rather than treating all three Poston camp units as one address. NPS statement that this was the only WRA camp on a reservation conflicts with Gila River evidence and is not adopted.

"Poston Relocation Center — Unit I." HauntHunt dossier 1840, https://haunthunt.com/place/poston-relocation-center-unit-i-arizona/ (file amended October 2, 2026).

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