Months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, a Japanese American fishing community on San Pedro's Terminal Island was given 48 hours to pack its belongings before it was forced into incarceration camps throughout the West. After the evacuation, most of its village was razed. But for more than 80 years, two buildings have been left standing. Now, the original residents, their families and supporters have mobilized to protect the last vestiges of their history on Tuna Street.
Tim Yamamoto's grandfather leased one of the buildings - a grocery store that fed the fishermen and cannery workers responsible for stocking places such as StarKist Tuna and Van Camp Seafood. The second building next door was a dry goods shop. Both are owned by the Port of Los Angeles. When Yamamoto, 66, learned that the connected buildings may be demolished, he was compelled to take action in honor of his late parents.
Those buildings show that there was something here. If they are wiped out, then any trace of the Terminal Island history is gone. I just want to do something to keep some kind of history alive.
Members of the Terminal Islanders club - a group of nearly 200 people that Yamamoto belongs to - learned of possible plans for the buildings when a local San Pedro resident spotted workers inspecting the area. Yamamoto and others rallied to make their case to the harbor commissioners to save the site.
#historical-preservation #japanese-american-history #terminal-island #community-activism #pearl-harbor
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