Seagoville Enemy Alien Detention Station, World War II - Texas Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

VISITORS PLEASE BE ADVISED: This marker, which could have been placed 300 yards away in the state ROW outside of the prison grounds, has instead been erected inside the prison property at the front gate. If you visit, be careful to only photograph the marker, and expect to show the guards your ID and your photos.

This is a prison area, and the guards are very serious about visitors. If you don't see any guards when you drop in, be assured THEY SEE YOU. Wait at the marker for the guards to make contact with you -- it will be easier this way, and they'll be there within 60-90 seconds.

This marker preserves the history of this facility, built before WWII as a women's prison, but quickly converted during WWII to house enemy aliens. In 2017 it is a medium-security Federal prison.

For much more on the Seagoville Enemy Alien Detention Station, please see this article on the THC website (with pictures): (visit link)

Marker Number: 17380 Marker Text: Shocked by the December 7, 1941, Empire of Japan attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii that propelled the U.S. into World War II, one U.S. Government response was the incarceration of more than 120,000 Issei (first generation, Japanese immigrants) and Nisei (second generation, U.S. citizens) in War Relocation Authority camps across the country. Through separate confinement programs, thousands of Japanese, German, and Italian citizens in the U.S. (and in many cases, their U.S. citizen relatives), classified as Enemy Aliens, were detained by the Department of Justice (DOJ) through its Enemy Alien Control unit, and, in Latin America, by the Department of State’s Special War Problems Division. Enemy aliens were held until paroled or exchanged for U.S. and Allied citizens seized overseas by Axis nations. Texas hosted three DOJ confinement sites, administered by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) at Crystal City, Kenedy, and here, as well as two U.S. Army Temporary Detention Stations at Fort Sam Houston and Fort Bliss. Next to historic Ellis Island (New York), the most aesthetically attractive INS confinement site was arguably at Seagoville. Originally built in 1941, as a women’s reformatory, Seagoville Enemy Alien Detention Station was transferred from the DOJ’s Bureau Of Prisons (BOP) to the INS on April 1, 1942. The internment camp held German and Italian childless couples and single women detained in the U.S. or Latin America. The site included a hospital, auditorium-school, industry and service buildings, and 352 dorm-esque living quarters. Japanese Latin Americans were held in a “colony” of 50 Victory Huts. In 1943, the population peaked at 650 internees and 120 staff. The detention station closed in May 1945, returning to the BOP which has administered the site as a prison since the end of the war. Texas in World War II -- 2013 Marker is property of the state of Texas

Visit Instructions:
Please include a picture in your log. You and your GPS receiver do not need to be in the picture. We encourage additional information about your visit (comments about the surrounding area, how you ended up near the marker, etc.) in the log.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   07/24/2017 Benchmark Blasterz visited it