On Friday, December 6, 2002, the first two sections of an original World War II mess hall were moved forty-five miles from the Bishop County Airport to Manzanar National Historic Site. The other two sections followed on Wednesday, December 11.

Mess Hall at Bishop airport before move in December 2003.	Stabilization of Mess Hall before move to Manzanar in December.
Mess Hall ready for transport to Manzanar.	Mess Hall at Manzanar in Block 14, January 2004.

 

The 40' x 100' structure is the same type as the of 36 mess halls used by Japanese Americans interned at Manzanar from 1942-1945. After the war, all but three of the camp's 800 buildings were dismantled or relocated. The mess hall was located at Bishop Airport and served as the Northern Inyo Hospital from 1946-1949. In the past 50 years, it was used as a storage space and eventually abandoned in a state of disrepair.

The mess hall is the first building in the "Demonstration Block" called for in Manzanar National Historic Site's General Management Plan, approved in 1996. The National Park Service will pursue future funding to make the building safe and acessible for visitors.