The Jerome War Relocation Center was a Japanese American internment camp located in southeastern Arkansas near the town of Jerome. Open from October 1942 until June 1944, it was the last relocation camp to open and the first to close; at one point it contained as many as 8,497 inhabitants. After closing, it was converted into a holding camp for German prisoners of war. Today, there are few remains of the camp still visible, the most prominent being the smokestack from the hospital incinerator.
A 10-foot (3.0 m) high granite monument marks the camp location and history. The marker is located on US Highway 165, at County Road 210, approximately 8 miles south of Dermott, Arkansas.
Jerome is located 30 miles (48.3 km) southwest of the Rohwer War Relocation Center. Due to the large number of Japanese Americans detained, these two towns were briefly the fifth and sixth largest town in Arkansas. Both camps were served by the same rail line.
On December 21, 2006 President George W. Bush signed H.R. 1492 into law guaranteeing $38,000,000 in federal money to restore the Jerome relocation center along with nine other former Japanese internment camps.
The 2004 PBS documentary film Time of Fear outlines this history of the camp and the similar camp in nearby Rohwer, Arkansas.
Read more about Jerome War Relocation Center: History of The Camp, Camp Life and Social Clubs, Registration and The Nisei Combat Team, Leave Clearance At Jerome, Camp Closing, Notable Jerome Internees
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