Walnut Grove

The bulk of Walnut Grove’s Japantown was built in 1915–16 following the 1915 fire which destroyed Walnut Grove’s Chinatown.

Japantown was depopulated during the forced incarceration of Japanese and Japanese-Americans following the issuance of Executive Order 9066 in 1942 and was repopulated by Filipino and Mexican laborers, who took over work in local orchards and farms during the war. Although the original residents returned to Walnut Grove following the end of World War II, most left within a few years, but the original architecture and style dating back to the 1916 reconstruction was retained.