Oblique aerial view of the Tanforan Assembly Center. 1943. Confinement and Ethnicity. Web. March 2014.
Tanforan Assembly Center
Most of the internees going to the Topaz Relocation Center came from the San Francisco Bay Area. They were taken by bus to Tanforan Assembly Center, a racetrack which had been quickly converted into an assembly center, before going on to Topaz. Throughout the West Coast there were sixteen assembly centers. Internees were allowed to bring only what they could carry as well as a small amount of luggage that was taken separately by truck.
In the assembly center, each family got a single-room apartment to live in, except some who were housed in white-washed horse stalls. Each apartment had a single light bulb on the ceiling and one army cot for each person.