The Topaz World War II Japanese Incarceration Site

Later this summer, the Moab Museum will display “A Moab Prison Camp: Japanese American Incarceration in Utah,” an exhibition curated by the team to explore the stories of the 55 individuals incarcerated at Dalton Wells near Moab. 

We are proud to simultaneously display “Topaz Stories: Remembering the Japanese American Incarceration,” which was developed by the Friends of the Topaz Museum to capture the personal stories of Japanese Americans incarcerated at Topaz. The Topaz Stories project has gathered stories from Topaz survivors and their descendants, from which these stories were selected for the Utah Division of Arts & Museums’ Traveling Exhibition Program. 

What happened at the Topaz Incarceration Site?

Topaz was constructed 15 miles northwest of Delta, UT and opened on September 11, 1942, to remain open for the next three full years. The original name, Central Utah Relocation Center, was changed to Abraham Relocation Center, and then to Topaz because the original name was too long to fit on postal forms, and the nearby town of Abraham already had a post office – Topaz being the name from a nearby mountain. Throughout the time the camp was in operation 11,212 Japanese Americans were incarcerated in 36 blocks utilized for housing. Each 20’ x 120’ barrack was divided into six rooms of three different sizes: 20’ x 16’, 20’ x 20’, and 20’ x 24’. Families were assigned rooms depending on the number of people in the family. If the family was larger than six people, they had multiple rooms. The barracks had no running water, a single light, and were heated by a coal stove.

Topaz Incarceration Site (via Topaz Museum)


Assembly center: Prior to being taken to Topaz, people were detained in the Tanforan and Santa Anita Racetracks in California. Many incarcerees were forced to live in horse stalls while waiting for Topaz to be completed.

The Topaz Museum shared the story of its origins: 

“The idea for a Topaz Museum actually began in journalism classes at Delta High in 1982, led by teacher Jane Beckwith. She assigned her students to interview Delta residents who had worked at Topaz during World War II. The assignment began a community dialogue in Delta for the first time since the war. People then brought artifacts to Jane that they had been keeping, resulting in a trunk of artifacts that were shown during presentations about Topaz. A conference at the University of Utah in 1983 sparked a connection and conversation between the Delta High School students and Japanese Americans attending the conference.

The Topaz Museum shares the stories of the 11,000 people of Japanese descent who were unjustly accused of threatening the nation’s security, and then confined at Topaz during World War II through a collection of hundreds of artifacts, photographs, and oral histories, including 150 pieces of original artwork.

The core exhibit explores the complex story of the World War II Japanese American incarceration experience. The exhibit begins with the racist laws that marginalized early Japanese immigrants leading to the mass incarceration of the Japanese American community during World War II, extends into the traumatic impact of their exile, and concludes with an examination of the Constitutional violations that the incarcerees were forced to endure.

Through powerful artifacts, photographs, and first-person accounts, visitors engage with the personal stories of Japanese Americans who lived through the experience of mass incarceration by the U.S. government. The Topaz Museum emphasizes that the World War II American confinement sites and the protection of our civil liberties is a shared history and that the objects and photographs from Topaz can encourage Americans to connect to our shared past and to better understand how to create a more just future.” (Topaz Museum)

To learn more, visit the exhibition, which will be on display from August 27 through the end of the year.

The Moab Museum is dedicated to sharing stories of the natural and human history of the Moab area. To explore more of Moab’s stories and artifacts, find out about upcoming programs, and become a Member, visit www.moabmuseum.org.